Occasionally I have a good idea that just keeps on giving.
And occasionally I take it too far an have a disaster.
On this occasion I’d set out to bake with a peanut butter stout I’d gotten from Belching Beaver. You might remember this Peanut Butter Stout Caramel Corn.
After making the corn, I still had a good amount left in that stout bottle. The perfect opportunity to create something strange, but decadently good. Particularly something that I could top with said caramel corn.
This is a little lighter on the sugar than some recipes, but it is by no means a healthy recipe. It just good. And it fun to make! Don’t be intimidated with the stove top caramel piece; just relax and enjoy the experiment!
Sticky toffee pudding isn’t a sensitive as a cake or other baked good. If its not perfect, it’s okay. It supposed to be a mess of ooey gooey deliciousness.
You can even have fun with a photoshoot. Vegas loves* holding up her camera’s flashlight so I can take more crappy iPhone pics.
Maybe not, but she does love me… and she loves dessert.
How the magic happens
Sticky Toffee Stout Pudding [Recipe]
For the cake:
- 150 g pitted dates (about 1 C), roughly chopped
- 1 C stout beer (I used Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Stout)
- 1/2 C milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 T salted butter, softened
- 2 T applesauce
- 1/4 C unpacked light brown sugar
- 1/4 C Xylitol*
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
For the toffee sauce:
- 1/4 C brown rice syrup
- 1/4 C Xylitol*
- 2 T butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp milk
- Juice of 1/4 lemon
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9 x 11-inch pyrex dish.
In a medium sized pot, bring stout and milk to a low boil. Add in dates and reduce heat to low. Cook for ~1 min, remove from heat, and stir in baking powder. It will froth a bit.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in date and milk mixture.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined.
Pour mixture evenly into the prepared dish and bake for 25-30 mins, or until toothpick comes out clean.
For the Toffee Sauce:
When the cake is nearly done, make the toffee sauce by whisking together the sauce ingredients in a medium pot (you can use the same one form the cake).
Bring to a low simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, whisking frequently making sure it doesn’t burn. Cook for ~5 mins. Stay close to the pot to watch and stir occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
Remove cake from oven, let it cool for a few minutes, and then prick with a fork all over. Pour the toffee sauce over the top of the cake, spreading evenly with a spoon.
Portion cake onto plates, and top with Peanut Butter Stout Caramel Corn. This is also delicious with vanilla bean ice cream.
*Note: You may use all brown sugar or another sweetener of choice.
Served 8-10.
How have you enjoyed making co-workers, friends, or family stare with strange but good creations this week? The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above. In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends! Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.
Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations. 🙂
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I swear I don’t just sit around a bake all the time… but there’s also going to be a cake recipe coming next week. It’s my birthdayyyyy!
What is the strangest thing you’ve eaten this week?
Have you ever cooked with beer or soda? I used diet coke to make these S’mores Brownies (again) for the weekend’s festivities.
This sounds all kinds of amazing! Beer in a dessert sounds so wonderfully strange.
I don’t think I ever cooked with beer or soda before. Or wait I did once cook spaghetti in lemonade when we were on a camping trip. But I thought it was water in the bottle so that doesn’t really count. And the outcome was aweful!
The strangest thing I ate this week was clearly the one I linked up today. Hot Chocolate Blackberry marinated beef. Strange and awesome 🙂
OMG – lemonade spaghetti? LOL!
Nothing strange eaten this week but my life sure has been strange. Woke up to my toilet being Old Faithful one morning & was rear ended my a motorcyclist last night. I give up.
Did you ever have the Sticky Toffee Pudding at 4th and Swift in Atlanta? If not, it is time to go home and get it. Trust me, it is so worth it. Absolutely incredible!
I have!!! Have you had it at King + Duke? Whoa.
OMG!!! So first I don’t like beer, but I do love beer bread and use to love beer brats. I also found 2 beers this year I do like that I can’t wait to play and cook with, an espresso stout and a milk chocolate stout. I love chocolate and caramel, and sticky toffee pudding well that is one of my holiday favs so this sounds down right amazing to me and I can’t wait to try it!!!
P.S. I think you will like my link up recipe this week as it was inspired by you and Heather last year! 😉 Yes you can use real bacon!
I forgot to add I LOVE peanut butter and am a “pb addict” and seriously popcorn, caramel and kettle specifically, are one of my favorite snacks. Can you PLEASE come make this for me!?!
I LOVE that you made the jalapeno things! I need to do them again!
Thanks so much for linking up. Let me know if you try the pudding!
I need to try making my own caramel! I am a bit intimated though 😛
intimidated*** 😛
I know the feeling! It’s not as hard as it sounds. You just have to watch it closely, but you’ll know when it’s done!
This sounds amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love anything that combines my two loves- craft beer and dessert <3
Me. Too. Are you sure we aren’t related? 😉
mmmm this looks so good! sticky toffee sounds like perfection 🙂
I love making desserts using pitted dates- they come out so sweet and sticky! This looks pretty phenomenal… love the caramel corn addition!
Ha- I love the “how the magic happens” part! I need to try that!
This sticky toffee sounds amazing and I am game for anything topped with caramel corn! I didn’t think my recipe this week was “strange but good” enough. I will have to work on that for next week!
Haha – we are classy over here. 😉
This flavor combo never gets old to me – it makes me hungry just reading the title!!!
Wow. This looks absolutely incredible. Kinda want to reach through the computer and steal some 😉
That’s funny… exactly how I feel every night on Pinterest. LOL!
you cannot keep doing this to me. the stout —> I so want. But i’m kinda think I can use a zevia root beer??? or maybe a cider?
I think root beer would be really cool! Or we can check out the GF brewery when you come!
Mmmm I LOVE toffee, so good!
Thanks! It’s one of my favorite desserts. 🙂
Bring on the toffee!!! Oh this recipe is such a fun combo of flavors and textures!
Thanks Sam! Playing is textures is one of my favorite things. 🙂
Lol I swear that I DO sit around and bake but have held off since.. going to get really fat if I continue down that path. Taking a mini hiatus. 🙂 That sounds legit delish though 🙂 Have a great weekend Laura! -Iva
Hahaha! It’s a struggle. Every day I think god I like to workout almost as much as I like to eat.
Mmm, beer in baked goods and then topped with caramel beer corn. Where do I sign up? I’d like seconds too if it’s not too much trouble.
I told you… you guys need to move here!