INGREDIENTS
Makes one 24cm square baking tray
For the sponge:
- 550ml water
- 500g dates, de-stoned
- 250g Captain Morgan spiced rum
- Zest of ½ a lemon
- 2 Vanilla pods, cut in half lengthways and seeds scraped
- 250g butter
- 250g soft dark sugar
- 15g salt
- 6 eggs
- 280g flour, sifted
- 8g bicarbonate of soda, sifted
For the toffee sauce:
- 8g bronze leaf gelatine (60g water to soak)
- 90ml water
- 480g caster sugar
- 480g whipping cream
- 80g unsalted butter
- 15g Maldon sea salt
METHOD
For the sponge
Place the water, de-stoned dates, rum, lemon zest and vanilla into a medium pan, place on a medium heat and bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat, cling film the top and allow the dates to steep for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, place the contents of the pan into a food blender and blitz on high speed for 1 minute, then stop and scrape the sides of the jug. Continue to blitz for a further 4 minutes to get a smooth puree consistency.
Pass the date puree through a sieve using a spatula or spoon and set aside until needed.
Using an electric mixer or by hand, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until pale and light.
Once pale, add the eggs one at a time and combine, making sure the eggs are fully incorporated before adding the next.
Add all the date puree and mix until just incorporated. Then, fold in the sifted flour and bicarbonate of soda to the wet mixture.
Once the flour and bicarbonate of soda have been incorporated into the mix, transfer the mix to a baking tin that has been lined with non-stick parchment paper.
Wrap the dish tightly with oven safe clingfilm (or wrap tightly in foil) and place into a shallow tray with 2cm of water.
Bake for 70 minutes in a pre-heated fan oven set to 115 degrees.
Remove the sticky toffee sponge from the oven, slice and serve with a generous pour of toffee sauce.
For the toffee sauce
Soak the gelatine in 60ml of cold water until completely soft.
Squeeze the gelatine removing as much excess water as possible and reserve.
Place 90ml of water into a medium pan, place on a medium heat and bring to the boil. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
Place the whipping cream into a small saucepan and heat to 80 degrees, then reserve.
Continue to boil the sugar syrup to 180 degrees, this will be a rich toffee brown colour.
Carefully add ¼ of the whipping cream, continuously whisking to incorporate. Followed by another ¼ of the whipping cream and repeat until all the whipping cream had been added.
Remove the pan form the heat, add the soaked gelatine, butter and Maldon salt, and emulsify using a hand blender.
Serve warm or reserve in the fridge until required.
To re heat, place in the microwave on medium power until warm.
