Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky toffee pudding served with pistachio ice cream

In my last blog I had said that I would try and make one thing from the Great British Bake off challenge every week. I have been doing that, just not had the time to update it on the blog. For the pudding test, I made the classic sticky toffee pudding. What I wanted to add to it was molasses made of dates but i could not find it in any store nearby. The closest I could find was palm sugar so I gave it a try. The pudding came out really moist and quite gooey. To serve on its side I had made a pistachio flavored creamy sauce, more like an Indian sweet dish called ‘rabri’ and pistachio ice cream, a version of an Indian ice cream called kulfi.

For the pudding you will need:

200 g dates
250 ml boiling water with a tsp of instant coffee
½ tsp of bicarbonate of soda
85 g butter
75 g soft brown sugar
75 g palm sugar/ jaggery ( I used a block of palm sugar and scraped it but you can also use soft brown sugar or caster sugar as well)
175 g self-raising flour
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp cinnamon powder
½ of ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
¼ tsp cardamom powder

1. Preheat the oven to 160 ˚C fan.
2. Chop the dates to small pieces and soak them in boiling water with coffee pre-dissolved. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the water and keep this aside.

Grated palm sugar

3. Combine the flour with cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom powder.
4. Then combine the softened butter with brown sugar and palm sugar and beat the mixture with a hand mixer till it becomes light and fluffy.
5. Then gradually add the lightly beaten eggs.
6. Fold in the flour mixture. When combined, fold in the date mixture.
7. Bake in a greased cake tin for 30-35 minutes till it is firm to touch.

Out of the tin upside down

I served it warm with pistachio toffee sauce and pistachio ice cream.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pistachio Ice cream (Pista Kulfi)

This pistachio ice cream is wonderfully creamy and absolutely divine. Plus it is amazing with desserts like brownies, warmed up gooey chocolate cakes, sticky toffee pudding and of course it is the ultimate late night sweet tooth craving filler and an absolute mood lifter.

I do not have an ice cream maker so it is a little bit of an effort to make the ice cream creamy. You can use evaporated milk or whole milk, I have made the ice cream with both and personally I like it made with whole milk. You will need:

½ tsp corn flour
2 tbsp milk
200ml/7¼ fl oz evaporated milk/whole milk
200ml/7¼ fl oz condensed milk
200g/7¼oz thick double cream
seeds of 2-3 cardamom pods, crushed
2 tbsp almond powder
handful of pistachios and almonds

1. In a non-stick pan heat the whole milk or the evaporated milk. Add crushed cardamom seeds. Reduce it to almost half or until it appears to get thick and creamy. Keep scrapping off the milk-skin from the sides and bottom of the pan every few minutes and putting it back in the simmering milk. This gives this ice cream the layered creamy texture. 
2. Add the condensed milk to the reduced whole milk and keep it on medium heat, stirring.
3. Mix about a table-spoon of cold milk and corn flour to form paste and add it to the milk mixture. Stir continuously and boil for a further 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is thick like custard. If it is not getting thick, add another half tsp of cornflour paste. Add the almond powder to the milk mixture.Remove from heat and bring it to room temperature.
4. Soak almonds and pistachios in warm water for few minutes and remove their skin.  Chop them and add to the thick milk mixture. This is really yummy on its own, has a toffee like flavour and can be used a sauce for cakes and puddings (its very similar now to ‘rabri‘ , an Indian sweet dish). 
5. Whisk double cream until thick and fluffy, add to the cooled milk mixture, and fold in gently. 
6. Set it in an ice cream maker if using one or else set in a container in the freezer. When making the ice cream without an ice cream maker, take the container out after an hour and whiz the mixture in food processor , it would have been semi frozen. Freeze it again and take it out and whiz it again in the processor again after 30-45 minutes. Do this at least 2-3 time- it will make the ice cream smoother. Leave it to set in the freezer.

Once set, scoop it out and enjoy!