Sticky Toffee Pudding & Friday Flowers

This week was not a great week – not every week can be. That’s just how Life comes, in ups and downs.

I guess the trick in life is all about how you ride those bumps in the road that you come across, even though it can seem that the car your riding in is hitting every pot hole and speed bump there is.

As kids we use to lovingly make fun of our mother, who when Life got a little hectic and chaotic (as it tends to do), she could be found by the mixer in the kitchen, whipping up and baking these incredible cakes or muffins, at all hours of the night. There were many a morning, when my siblings and I, would wake up to the most delicious smells and incredible pastry for breakfast.

I see that I have inherited this same odd coping skill. The truth is we all have our ways we deal with stress in our lives, and for me, getting into the kitchen has become my way. There is just something about concentrating on making the perfect dish, getting my hands dirty, playing with different flavors and ingredients to create something tasty and wonderful… All of it -the whole process,from start to finish, is for me calming and soothing and my idea of peace and quiet from the chaos that I am currently dealing with.

It also doesn’t hurt that I get to enjoy and eat some of the most delicious food  – Life can not be all that bad when your enjoying Sticky Toffee Pudding!

Sticky Toffee Pudding; A very grown up English dessert, that is rich with flavor and chock full of wicked delights like, dates, rum and butter! It makes no apologies for being decadent and not really pudding, but a spongy cake that is smothered in heavenly sweet toffee sauce.   But I have tweaked the recipe to make it pareve so you can enjoy it after your Shabbos meal on this long Friday night.

So my KS friends, I give you my best recipe of the week, and the chance to indulge in one of life’s  little dessert pleasures, this incredible Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe.

Friday is Finally Here!l  Wishing you all a Restful & Wonderful Shabbos!

till next week… Sarah

Sticky Toffee Pudding

adapted from American Test Kitchen

You can make these in individual ramikins (6) or an 8 inch square baking dish. They key to making this dish is the water bath and covering the cakes as they bake – essentially steaming them while they bake.

For the pudding cakes:

1 1/2 cups (8 0z.) lightly packed whole pitted dates, cut cross wise into 1/4 inch slices

3/4 cup warm water

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cups packed light or dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

4 tbsp. margarine

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Toffee Sauce

4 Tbsp. unsalted margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup non-dairy whip topping

3 tsp. rum extract

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Directions:

For the Pudding Cakes:

Grease and flour the 6-8 ramakins and set them onto a roasting pan. Pre-heat oven to 350. Bring Kettle to a boil for the hot water you will need to fill the roasting pan.

1.  In a bowl mix the baking powder with warm water and then add half the dates. Let the dates soak for about 5 minutes, submerged beneath water.

2. whisk the flour, baking flour, and slat together in a large mixing bowl.

3. In a food processor, take the remaining dates and brown sugar and process until no large dates chunks remain. The mixture should have a texture of damp coarse sand, about 45 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

4. Drain soaked dates thru a mesh colander reserving the date water in a bowl.

5. Add the date liquid into the date mixture in the food processor , along with the eggs, melted margarine, and vanilla and process until smooth, about 15 seconds.

6.Transfer mixture into bowl with the dry ingredients and sprinkle the softened dates on top.

7. With a rubber spatula, gently fold wet mixture into dry mixture until just combined and date pieces are evenly dispersed. Distribute batter evenly among prepared ramakins, about 2/3 filled. Add boiling water to roasting pan until water comes 1/4 inch up the sides, making sure not to splash the water into the ramakins. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil, crimping the edges to seal.

8. Bake 40 minutes until puffed and surfaces are spongy, firm and moist to touch. Immediately transfer the ramakins from water bath to wire rack and cool for at least 10 minutes.

FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE:

1. While cakes are cooling, melt the margarine in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the brown sugar and salt until smooth. Continue to cook, until sugar is dissolved whisking continually.

2. Add 1/3 cup of whip topping and stir until smooth, about 30 sec and then slowly pour in the remaining whip topping and rum extract. Whisk everything till smooth and reduce flame and cook on simmer till frothy (about 3 minutes)

3. remove from heat and add the lemon juice.

4. Using toothpicks, poke about 25 holes into each cake and spoon 1-2 tablespoons of toffee sauce over each cake. Let the cake rest for about 5 minutes until sauce is absorbed.

Before serving, invert cakes onto plates and top with remaining toffee sauce.

Friday Flowers

Sometimes all you need to brighten a room and give it and yourself a little cheer is some beautiful flowers in gorgeous mixed colors.

Simple roses in various jeweled tone colors cut short to fill the whole mouth of the vase is the perfect elegant arrangement for any table or surface in the house.

Tip: the key to picking long lasting roses is to make sure you are not buying old ones that have fully opened and are on their last legs. Choose more closed rosses, squeeze the inside of their heads to feel if they are slightly firm to the touch – heads that are soft are old.

To help our roses open faster, make sure to stick them into warm very clean water.