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k) A pudcake is a cross between a pudding and a cupcake. You won't find the word 'Pudcake' defined in any dictionary I am aware of, but let me just say, in the not too distant future, it will become a beloved piece of slang heard and worked into the everyday vernacular.
Sticky Date Pudding is a delight I only discovered in the last decade. For some reason, the addition of Dates into any cake or dessert seemed like a criminal action that should be punished. Despite the fact I'd never eaten a date, much less a dried one, that didn't stop me pre-judging, far too harshly, this exquisite dessert. Let that be a lesson to you all, uneducated judgements only make you the loser in the end. I mean, how many years did I have the opportunity to eat this and stuck my nose up in the air and refused without knowing how much I would lust after it years later. What a tool, lol.
I have modified the Sticky Date recipe quantity wise just a little, so if you're wanting to be a spoil sport and make this the 'normal' way (however, you're excused if doing so only out of sheer laziness and not wanting to fill multiple cupcake liners!), the base recipe does not need changing, but, the Caramel Sauce you will need to triple. Yes, triple. 20cm round cake pan is a good size too if you're doing it all in one.
The Recipe
Sticky Date Pudcakes - Makes 14-18 Pudcakes
Ingredients
Puds
250g Dried Dates
310mls Boiling Water
1 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
150g Brown Sugar
60g Butter
2 Eggs
150g Self Raising Flour
Caramel Sauce
50g Brown Sugar
25g Butter
75ml Thickened Cream
Grab out your food processor and place the dried dates in. Sprinkle the bicarb soda over the top
Leave to stand for approximately 5 minutes. Pop the lid on and line your cupcake trays while you wait or make a coffee, don't skip the soaking stage, whatever you do.
After the 5 minutes has passed, add the butter and brown sugar,
Add the eggs,
and process for 5-10 seconds, until all the ingredients are combined.
Spoon the mixture into your cupcake liners, filling between half and 3/4 full. If you fill around the 1/2 way mark, you will have a nice little gap between the top of the sticky date and the top of the cupcake liner that can be filled with a nice recess of the sticky caramel sauce. If you go to the 3/4 full line, you will lose this gap. You'll still be able to get loads of sauce on, it will just be a little stickier and you'll lose some over the sides. Also, as logic would dictate, the more full the cups, the fewer of them you'll have overall, hence my guesstimate at how many serves this will make. I usually get at least 16, sometimes as many as 18 or 20 though!
This is a very runny mixture, more akin to the carrot cake batter than any other batter I've blogged, so expect this to be quite messy to work with. Pouring and a cup wasn't successful for me, but, knock yourself out if you want to try it. If you get it to work, post back here with tips!
Time for those pudcakes to get baking! Today, I worked at 150 degrees, however it was not in a fan forced oven. On Friday, my almost brand new oven was halfway to preheated heaven when I saw a flash, heard a bang and we had to attack the fuse box outside to get it going again. Tomorrow is Monday so I'll get some idea of when it can be looked at, but until then, I'm flying on what appears to be the equivalent to electric oven settings. I have no idea what the various settings are on the right hand side dial, only that my beloved fan forced is not what it is currently set at in this picture.
In fan forced, this is baked at 140degrees, but I'd go no higher than 150 in an electric. It will just take time to bake, Sticky Date is supposed to!I had some odd baking results with these. The top tray took 37 minutes to bake, while the lower tray (both put in at exactly the same time) took 45 minutes. The photo below is at about the halfway point in the baking process, and I also turned them at this stage to avoid the back row burning in the 'super hot spots' my oven tends to have.
The finished product will be a much deeper colour, and, for those of you who can't help but molest your cakes to be 'sure' that they are done (its ok, I'm part of that secret club, I love a cake that I can test with the 'spring back' method *sigh*), touch them lightly, and you'll get a little spring happening, but most of all you want to make sure that despite its moniker, the cake does not actually stick to your finger and lift up.
See, I molested a few of these to 'test' them, but you can't tell!
Now, for the Caramel Sauce...which I suggest you prepare once you've got your cupcake trays into the oven. This needs to cool before you place on the top of the cupcakes, you only want to use this hot when you're making regular, non pudcake style sticky date.
With this one, get yourself set up from the outset. It will make the entire process painless and seem super easy.
Place the butter and brown sugar into a small saucepan, measure out your cream and set it aside. Once you have everything you need, turn the element to high and with one hand, stir your butter and brown sugar, with your other, begin adding the cream and working it in to the mixture
Once you've got the mixture bubbling up, remove from the heat so that it doesn't bubble over, then stir continuously with your wooden spoon until the mixture is completely smooth.
Set aside to cool.
I also prepared some Italian Meringue Buttercream, but adjusted for a smaller amount. The directions are further back in the blog (I am going to learn to do tags, I promise!!) for step by step how to make, just remember to adjust it and use the following quantities of ingredients
4 Egg Whites
50ml Cold Water
110g Caster Sugar
270g Butter
2 teaspoons Vanilla
Once the Buttercream was ready, I used a medium sized round nozzle, trusty Homer the piping bag
and a 'dog turd' style of piping application that seems popular with young and old alike on cupcakes these days.
Grab that cooled caramel sauce (you want it at at least room temperature, any higher and it will be too runny), a small spoon and start decorating the top of your pudcakes to finish...
Mmmm....Pudcakes!!
