Ingredients
1 cup dates (180g) -- pitted and
1 chopped
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup boiling water
2 tbsp butter
1 cup soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup self-raising flour-sifted
1 toffee sauce:
1 cup soft brown sugar
3/4 cup light whipping cream.
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter
Directions
Mix dates and baking soda in a heat-proof bowl. Pour boiling water on
top and leave to stand. Cream butter and sugar until pale, then add
eggs one at a time, heating well after each addition. Gently fold in
sifted flour, stir in the date mixture, and pour into a lightly
buttered 18cm or 7" square or round cake tin. Bake in a preheated
oven (180 C) for 30-40 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes clean.
Combine sugar, cream, vanilla essence and butter in a saucepan, bring
to the boil, stirring, and simmer for five minutes. Set aside until
ready to serve, then quickly reheat when needed. Cut pudding into
squares and place each square in the centre of a warm dinner plate.
Pour hot toffee sauce over each square and serve with fresh cream.
Recipe By : Jill Dupleix
Servings: 6 servings
Australian Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Australian; Candy; Dessert
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to track the history of written cooking instructions back into the distant past, in fact as far back into history as ancient Egypt, and potentially, even further back. Having said that, generally, these ancient cookbooks were just primitive hieroglyphic recipes for meal preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe found, according to food historians is a series of ancient tablets in ancient Sumerian which describe the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making those who drank it feel exhilarated and blissful. As we move into Roman times around 25BC a man called Apicius assembled a number of documents showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, he recounts how the meals were split into hors d`oeuvre, entrees and afters, something we still use today. He also describes how the ancient chefs used a good variety of herbs and spices, including a few you will know such as bay, mint and dill. Moving on, there are some books which appeared in the fourteenth century - a cookery book called `Forme of Cury`, and another called `Curye on Inglish`. Perhaps surprisingly, these are nothing to do with the spicy food that is familiar to us all today, but instead descriptions of the types of food cooked for the rich and wealthy people of the time. Later, in the 15th century, the Crusaders brought back a variety of foods and herbs from the East, including spices like coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new foods and spices prompted an outbreak in manuscripts on cookery, most of which are kept safe in academic collections. During the following few centuries, the powerful families of Wesstern Europe strove to serve the most exotic meals, and as a result the best chefs and their recipes were at a premium. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the 1800s that cooking and recipe books reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated their lives to collecting, verifying, and writing down popular recipes of the day. By the advent of the 1900s, recipe books are greatly in demand mostly as a result of increased literacy, people having increased spare time and having more money to spend. |
We hope you enjoy this Australian Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe.
