Sticky toffee pudding is one of my favourite desserts. I love it so much I could have it every day. So it’s no surprise that I recently challenged myself to create a recipe for sticky toffee pudding donuts. Has anyone done it before? I don’t think so.
Not to brag, but these are the juiciest, most wonderful donuts I’ve ever had! Plus the hole in the middle of the donuts is perfect for holding extra caramel sauce, a scoop of ice cream, a dollop of cream, or a combination of all three.
Making the batter for these donuts is similar to that of a traditional sticky toffee pudding. If you’re pressed for time, you can make the batter in advance. I recommend placing it into a piping bag and storing it in the fridge overnight. The longer you store the batter in the fridge, the thicker it becomes, as gluten develops. So it’s crucial you place it in a piping bag; you won’t be able to scoop it with a spoon.
Once you make the batter and preheat the oven, it only takes 10 minutes to bake the donuts. And since sticky toffee pudding is better hot, I suggest you bake the donuts right before serving them.
The caramel sauce, however, you can make in advance. You can store it in the fridge and serve it cold (it will be thicker), or quickly warm it up while the donuts are baking.
As donuts bake much faster than a cake, and have a larger crispy surface area, I recommend them for your next dinner party. Everyone will be impressed! And if you’re only serving them to adults, you can also add a bit of alcohol to the caramel sauce.
See more donut recipes here.
And lastly, here you have the recipe:
Sticky Toffee Pudding Donuts
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (150 g/ 5 ¼ oz.) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
- ½ stick (60 g/ 2 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ oz.) cream (35% fat content)
- 100 g (3 ½ oz.) medjool dates, pitted
- 100 ml (3 ½ oz.) boiling water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature for greasing the pan
For the caramel sauce:
- 1 cup (175 g/ 6 oz.) brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ oz.) cream (35% fat content)
- ½ stick (60 g/ 2 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
Optional:
- pecans
- ice cream or sweet cream
Instructions
For the caramel sauce:
- In a small sauce pan combine the brown sugar, butter, and cream over medium heat. Continuously stir until the butter melts and mixture begins to boil. Allow the sauce to boil until it becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (approx. 5 minutes). Set aside to cool at room temperature.
For the batter:
- Coarsely chop the dates and add them to the boiling water. Add the baking soda and stir until the mixture becomes creamy. Set aside to cool.
- Pre-heat oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
- In a bowl sift the flour, then add the baking powder. Mix them with a whisk and set aside.
- Gently melt the butter over low temperature. Make sure the butter does not bubble. Once melted, set it aside and allow it to cool a little.
- Crack the eggs into another bowl, add the sugar and beat at high speed with an electric mixer. The mixture is ready when almost triple in volume and light in colour. Add the vanilla extract, salt, cream and whisk until incorporated.
- Using a spatula, add the flour mix to the egg mix in 2-3 steps, mixing gently after each step. Make sure the flour is well incorporated, but do not over mix. Once the flour has been incorporated, fold in the melted cooled butter. Add the creamy date mixture and gently fold them into the batter. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes.
- Grease the donut pan with butter. Pipe the batter into the pan filling ¾ of each cavity and bake for 10 minutes, or until donuts spring back when gently pressed. Once baked, take the pan out of the oven and allow the donuts to cool in the donut pan 2-3 minutes at room temperature. Transfer them to a rack and let them sit until completely cooled.
- Serve in a small bowl and pour a generous amount of the caramel sauce over donuts right before serving.
Optional:
- Serve with pecans, ice cream, or sweet cream.
