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This Sticky Toffee Pudding Loaf Cake with Caramel Drizzle is a serious treat, and a riff off a British classic. Think big dark brown sugar and molasses flavours, but in a really easy loaf cake! This gets topped with a little buttercream and a caramel drizzle.
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a British favourite, and something I grew up with. This is one of those foods that just brings joy without too much effort. That said, I know some will see this cake as an attack on a classic and I promise it isn’t! This came about in the desire to create something better for parties/dinner dates!
This recipe calls for light brown and dark brown sugars as well as treacle (molasses). These are all easy to purchase in your local supermarket, but could be subbed if you’re in a pinch. Any soft brown sugar will work, and golden syrup could work in place of the treacle. This is a classic British bake, so I try to keep to that as much as possible. Too many edits will have you with caramel cake, still delicious but not STP!
This is pretty flexible as far as decoration is concerned. You could omit the buttercream, or the caramel drizzle and you’ll still end up with a great thing. Also, feel free to add sprinkles or other decorations! You could transform this into a single layer round cake if that’s preferable – use a 9 inch round tin and check the bake time (it’ll be slightly shorter).
Tips for the best Sticky Toffee Pudding Loaf Cake with Caramel Drizzle
- Sugars: Light brown and dark brown sugars go into this recipe. Both contribute to flavour and texture, try not to sub if possible. If you really need to sub, let it be one for the other – avoiding white sugar.
- Treacle: Also known as molasses. Again, this is a crucial part of a Sticky Toffee. It add depth of flavour and makes it really taste like STP rather than caramel cake.
- Dates: I like these as mashed as possible, so they go into a cake as a paste. You may want to leave slightly chunkier. That’s fine!
- Caramel: This thickens as it cools. Trust the process. You need it to really bubble for a few minutes to begin to thicken. Skipping/cheating this step will give you a really thin caramel. This is, of course, still delicious, but may not be what you want to decorate your cake with!
I make this Sticky Toffee Pudding Loaf Cake with Caramel Drizzle in a classic 2lb loaf tin (like this one) and recommend a high speed mixer (with a mixer like this). If you’re looking for other cake ideas, check out this Biscoff Snacking Cake or this Red Velvet Traybake Cake. For videos and other inspiration, head over to my Instagram.
Sticky Toffee Pudding Loaf Cake with Caramel Drizzle
Ingredients
- 170 g Medjool Dates Pitted and Chopped
- 170 ml Boiling Water
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1.5 tbsp Treacle (Molasses)
- 90 g Unsalted Butter
- 90 g Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 90 g Dark Brown Soft Sugar
- 3 Medium Free Range Eggs
- 165 g Self Raising Flour
For the Caramel Sauce
- 40 g Unsalted Butter
- 100 g Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 100 ml Double Cream (Heavy Cream)
For the Buttercream
- 100 g Unsalted Butter Room Temperature
- 1 tbsp Caramel Sauce from above
- 300 g Icing Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a 2lb loaf tin.
- Add the chopped dates, boiling water and baking soda to a small saucepan and heat on low for about 10 minutes, then stir in the treacle. Mash everything together using the spoon, or a stick blender if preferred, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and both sugars for about 3-5 minutes, until fully combined.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the date mixture and combine again. Fold in the flour.
- Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin and bake about 40-45minutes. Check it at 30 minutes, it may need to be covered with tin foil if the top is browning too fast. Once a skewer inserted comes out mostly clean (it will still be a little sticky in the middle) remove and let cool on a wire rack. Once cool, make the sauce/buttercream:
- Make the sauce by combining the butter, sugar and cream on a low heat until it all combines. Then turn up the heat so it bubbles for 3/4 minutes. Turn the heat off and let cool a little. It'll thicken as it cools.
- Meanwhile, make the buttercream by combining the butter and sauce in a large bowl/the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on high until soft. Add about half of the icing sugar and whisk to combine. Add the remaining icing sugar and whisk to reach a spreadable consistency. Spread over the cake.
- At this point, the caramel sauce should have thickened and cooled a little, drizzle this over the cake and decorate with any additional sprinkles etc that you like! Slice to serve.
