Apples and a warm apple spice mix give this Sticky Toffee Pudding made with honey a new twist. Topped with a buttery honey toffee sauce, this moist apple pudding cake delivers fresh Fall flavor. It's perfect to serve for all your Autumn gatherings, like Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year)!
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Why this recipe works
- Rich, sweet flavor from spiced apples and softened dates
- The buttery honey toffee sauce adds another layer of sweetness
- Both the apple pudding cake and the toffee sauce can be made ahead, easing the preparations for holiday celebrations!
British Sticky Toffee Pudding is one of those desserts that Americans may think of when we think about pubs, pints, Dickens, and Harry Potter. Maybe it's because it's called a pudding rather than cake? In any case, this sweet Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake is ripe for adaptations.
As we slip into the Fall baking season (and before pumpkin spice everything takes over), desserts featuring apples, like an apple pie or apple crisp, are especially popular when apples are at their peak. Apples and spice go hand in hand in Autumn baking recipes.
Fall also brings festivals like Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). Apples and honey are symbolic foods used to wish each other a sweet New Year.
So what if we adapted Sticky Toffee Date Pudding to feature apples and honey? The resultant apple pudding recipe will be sticky, sweet, and scrumptious!
Apples and honey as symbols
Apples and honey feature prominently in celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Traditionally, apples are dipped in honey to represent the wish to have a sweet year.
Desserts that feature apples or honey figure prominently as well. Honey Cake is another traditional dessert served after the celebratory meal. Other delicious examples are Apple Galette in Phyllo Dough and Apple Honey Babka - with all that sweetness, it's bound to be a sweet year!
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Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make this apple cake recipe:
Ingredient Notes
Apples: What type of apples to use? Your favorite baking apples, of course! You want to use apples (either solo or in combinations) that will be sweet and tart but won’t turn to mush when baking. See the FAQs below for some suggestions.
Apple spice mix: Making your own apple spice mix blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom gives this pie complex spice notes. If you prefer, you can use 1½ teaspoons of store bought apple pie spice instead.
Honey: Use your favorite type of honey - its subtle floral notes are there to add sweetness to the apple cake (it's instead of using golden syrup like in a traditional Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe).
Dates: Softened dates are a key feature of a classic Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe. They melt into the cake, adding an intense sugary sweetness.
Molasses: Another key feature of Sticky Toffee Pudding cake recipes, molasses adds its rich, sweet but slightly burnt flavor to the cake.
Brown sugar: Using dark brown sugar enhances the molasses flavor along with adding sweetness.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding
Step 1: Prepare the apples and dates
Melt the butter in a skillet over Medium heat. Add in the brown sugar and apple spice mix and stir until the brown sugar is melted and the mixture is smooth (photo 1).
Add the apples and cook until softened, but not mushy, about 6 to 8 minutes (photo 2). Transfer the apples with the sauce to a medium bowl and set aside.
Put the dates into a large saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes (photo 3).
Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda (photo 4). The mixture will foam up, so be prepared. Set the pan aside.
Step 2: Make the apple pudding cake batter
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, honey, brown sugar, and molasses with a hand mixer until light and creamy (photo 5).
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then mix in the vanilla and dates with their liquid (photo 6). The mixture will look broken, but that's ok.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl (photo 7).
If necessary, use a slotted spoon to remove the apples from their sauce (reserve the sauce) and toss the apples into the flour mixture. Fold in the apples until they are coated with flour. This will help keep the apples from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
Fold the flour mixture (and any reserved sauce) into the batter, then stir until just combined, making sure there are no hidden spots of raw flour sticking to a stray apple chunk (photo 8).
Step 3: Bake the apple pudding cake
Transfer the batter to a 9-inch round cake pan that's been sprayed with baking spray and lined with a parchment paper round. Bake at 375˚F on the middle rack for 30 to 33 minutes or until a cake tester poked in the center comes out clean (photo 9).
Remove the cake pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes. Transfer the cake from the pan to a platter and cool about 5 to 10 minutes more.
Step 4: Make the honey toffee sauce
While the cake is cooling, combine the heavy cream, butter, brown sugar, and honey in a medium saucepan. Cook over Low heat until the brown sugar dissolves and the sauce is smooth (photo 10). Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Step 5: Glaze the cake
Pour about ½ cup of the honey toffee sauce onto the warm cake and brush over the top and the sides with a pastry brush (photo 11).
Allow the sauce to soak into the cake before serving (photo 12).
When ready to serve, cut the cake and serve warm with the remaining toffee sauce and a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Storage and make-ahead instructions
You can make the cake 2 days ahead of when you're planning to serve it. Let it cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap, place in a plastic ziplock bag, and store in the freezer for 2 to 3 months. Thaw the cake on the counter and reheat at 325˚F just until warm before serving.
The toffee sauce will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for 2 weeks. Reheat it gently in the microwave at 30-second intervals or in a small saucepan over Medium-Low heat.
Questions asked and answered
Here are some questions you might have...
You want to use apples (either solo or in combinations) that will be sweet and tart but won’t turn to mush when baking. Any combination of baking apples will work, like Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, and/or Jazz. Need more inspiration? Check out The very best pie apples from King Arthur Baking.
If you have pitted dates left over from this recipe, it's best to store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They will stay soft and fresh up to a year. At room temperature, pitted dates will stay fresh in an airtight container for 1 to 3 months.
Not only does boiling the dates help to rehydrate and soften them, adding baking soda helps to neutralize the acidic components in the dates, giving you less astringency in the cake.
Pro Tip#1: Choose the right apples
To prepare the apples, an apple peeler/corer/slicer allows you to prep the apples in a single step before cutting then into cubes. Otherwise, a serrated peeler will make quick work of peeling the apples, and a melon baller is a good way to scoop out the core. Using a mandolin slicer speeds up the slicing and insures uniform pieces. Just be careful with the sharp blade, and make sure you use the food guard!
Pro Tip#2: Make individual portions
Rather than making one large Apple Sticky Toffee Pudding, you can make individual portions instead. Just spray 6-ounce or 8-ounce ramekins with baking spray. Spoon the prepared apple cake batter into the ramekins and place them onto a half sheet baking pan.
Bake the cakes at 350˚F on the middle rack for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove the baking pan from the oven and place the ramekins onto a wire rack to cool about 15 minutes. Unmold them onto the wire rack and cool about 5 to 10 minutes more before pouring on the honey toffee sauce.
Sweet, sticky, apple goodness
Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding has the deep flavor of a molasses cake or gingerbread, but sweeter. The apples add a hint of warm Autumn spices, and the dates melt into the cake, adding richness without being cloying. Truly, you won't know they're there.
The honey toffee sauce brings its own unique buttery flavor. It's also yummy poured over vanilla ice cream or eaten straight with a spoon (although I will not confirm nor deny having done that).
Because you can make the apple pudding cake and the honey toffee sauce ahead of time, you can ease your day-of-celebration preparations, whether that be for Rosh Hashanah dinner, a Thanksgiving brunch, Sticky Toffee Christmas Pudding, or whenever you want an extra-special dessert.
Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding deserves a place at the table!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
Tammy
Related Recipes
Cooking with fruits and jams in your baking repertoire adds a natural sweetness that can't be matched by artificial means. And, there are so many ways to use them (and not just in pie). It's time to find fun ways to include fruit in your desserts! Here are some ideas to get you started:
I hope you like this recipe! Do you have any questions I can help with? Let me know! Or, if you made the recipe, I'd love for you to leave a comment and rating. Thanks!
Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding
Equipment
- hand mixer
Ingredients
For the apples and dates
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons apple spice mix, see Recipe Notes
- 2 medium apples, small dice (¼-inch), about 2 cups, see Recipe Notes
- 1 cups dates, pitted, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup water
For the apple pudding cake
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses, unsulfured, not blackstrap
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the honey toffee sauce
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper round. Set aside.
- Prepare the apples and dates: Melt the butter in a skillet over Medium heat. Add in the brown sugar and apple spice mix and stir until the brown sugar is melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Add the apples and cook until softened, but not mushy, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the apples with the sauce to a medium bowl and set aside.
- Put the dates into a large saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda. The mixture will foam up, so be prepared. Set the pan aside.
- Make the apple pudding cake: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, honey, brown sugar, and molasses with a hand mixer until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then mix in the vanilla and dates with their liquid. The mixture will look broken, but that's ok.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. If necessary, use a slotted spoon to remove the apples from their sauce (reserve the sauce) and toss the apples into the flour mixture. Fold in the apples until they are coated with flour (this will help keep the apples from sinking to the bottom of the cake).
- Fold the flour mixture (and any reserved sauce) into the batter, then stir until just combined, making sure there are no hidden spots of raw flour sticking to a stray apple chunk.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake the cake on the middle rack for 30 to 33 minutes or until a cake tester poked in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes. Transfer the cake from the pan to a platter and cool about 5 to 10 minutes more.
- Make the honey toffee sauce: While the cake is cooling, combine the heavy cream, butter, brown sugar, and honey in a medium saucepan. Cook over Low heat until the brown sugar dissolves and the sauce is smooth. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour about ½ cup of the honey toffee sauce onto the warm cake and brush over the top and the sides with a pastry brush. Allow the sauce to soak into the cake before serving.
- When ready to serve, cut the cake and serve warm with the remaining toffee sauce and a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
- Storage and make-ahead instructions: You can make the cake 2 days ahead of when you're planning to serve it. Let it cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap, place in a plastic ziplock bag, and store in the freezer for 2 to 3 months. Thaw the cake on the counter and reheat at 325˚F just until warm before serving.
- The toffee sauce will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for 2 weeks. Reheat it gently in the microwave at 30-second intervals or in a small saucepan over Medium-Low heat.
Notes
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon allspice or cloves
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
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