
Recipe:
Vegan Sticky Toffee
If you are intolerant to gluten, it doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on a classic wonderful dessert. This is so much better (and healthier) than the original and it’s vegan too. This is a really indulgent one and gives you all those comfort feels of a warm classic pudding. Gluten-free, vegan, refined-sugar-free.
Makes 6 servings
Total Time: 40min
Prep: 10min
Ingredients
- 250ml Almond Milk or plant milk, shop-bought or home-made
- 200g Medjool dates, stoned (pitted)
- 1oog coconut sugar
- 100ml coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 200g Gluten-free flour (doves farm)
- 1 vanilla pod (bean), seeds scraped (or one teaspoon of vanilla paste)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- pinch of pink Himalayan salt
For the sticky toffee sauce:
- 200g coconut sugar
- 250ml coconut milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
To serve:
Vanilla Custard:
- 2 tablespoons very fine cornflour (cornstarch)
- 500ml coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 whole vanilla pod (bean), scraped (or vanilla paste)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 165oc. Line an 8-inch square cake tin (pan) with greaseproof paper or use a good-quality silicone mold.
- Start with the pudding. In a small saucepan gently heat the milk and dates for 5–10 minutes until the dates have softened. Once softened, set aside.
- In a blender, blitz the coconut sugar and coconut oil until the sugar has mostly disintegrated. Add the baking soda to the milk and date mix – it will start to fizz and bubble, but that is okay.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, vanilla, spices, pinch of salt, coconut oil and sugar mix along with the dates and milk mixture and give everything a good stir.
- Pour into the cake tin (pan) and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Heat a pan over medium heat, add the coconut sugar and coconut milk and let it heat through.
- Add the salt and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for 20 minutes until the caramel has thickened. Stir it occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. A great way of knowing if it’s ready is to see if it sticks to the back of your spoon.
- Stir in a little more salt if desired and either use it straight away or let it cool down before storing in a glass jar – it will become even thicker as it cools.
- Once the cake is done, transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy with a home-made custard (below) and a drizzle of sticky toffee sauce.
- Blend the cornflour with a little bit of the coconut milk in a medium pan over medium heat, whisking until you have an even consistency. Then add the rest of the ingredients including the scraped vanilla pod – there is still a lot of goodness there – whisking until the cornflour and vanilla are fully incorporated into the coconut milk.
- Whisk until the custard starts to thicken and then, as soon as the mixture begins to boil, take it off the heat and let it cool.
Equipment needed:
Oven, cake tin, small saucepan, blender, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, whisk.