Sticky Pear Pudding & Toffee Sauce

Hello! So today I'm starting this new blog to differentiate between my baking/ cooking and my usual posts about my daughter. All food, all the time, I say. I've been making a lot of breads lately (having gotten over my fear of yeast, waiting... I couldn't handle it!!) and will post my favorite recipes on that topic soon. Today I made a recipe from Better Homes & Gardens that was labeled as a pudding, but is more of a sticky cake.

Toffee-Pear Sticky Pudding

Makes: 9 to 12 servings

Prep: 30 minutes Bake: 40 minutes Cool: 10 minutes

ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups pitted whole dates, preferably Medjool dates
• 1 cup chopped peeled fresh pears
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
•  2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I used more towards a full teaspoon)
• 1 recipe Toffee-Pear Sauce

Directions

1. In a large saucepan combine the water, dates, and pears. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, covered, about 15 minutes or until fruit is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.* Mash with a potato masher, fork, or immersion blender until as smooth as possible. Stir in baking soda; set aside.
 * I found it easier to smash the pear/date mixture by boiling it with more water, so if your dates have a thick skin, or you have crispy pears like I do, simmer the mixture until it is mostly reduced, and if the dates haven't become soft & lighter colored, add two tablespoons water and continue. You should end up with a fairly uniform mush that is pretty thick

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; set aside. In a large bowl combine brown sugar and butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Stir in date-pear mixture. Stir in flour mixture just until combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack. Immediately use a long skewer (or a toothpick, it's not a very tall cake) to prick top of cake all over. Spoon the portion of Toffee-Pear Sauce without pears over cake. Bake for 3 minutes more. Cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm* with the portion of Toffee-Pear Sauce with pears.
 *if you're like me, you have no time to ration, and have made this ahead of time, perhaps even the day before. The microwave is perfect to bring this dish back to life. microwave cake and remaining sauce separately, and then spoon the warm sauce over individual servings. (you get more gooey goodness this way, instead of pouring it over and then serving)

Toffee-Pear Sauce*: Peel and core 1 fresh pear; thinly slice pear. In a medium skillet melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add thinly sliced pears; cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, turning pears occasionally and reducing heat to low if pears brown too quickly. Set aside. In a small saucepan melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar. Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes**, stirring occasionally. Carefully stir in 3/4 cup whipping cream. Bring to boiling. Remove from heat; stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Divide sauce in half. Stir pears into one portion.

* I've found that the sauce goes FAST. You may want to double the recipe, because then everyone can enjoy their own helping without worry. It is really only enough to re-cover the cake, but my family enjoyed spooning it over their individual pieces (letting it cover the sides, mmmm) the pear fried in butter I would recommend doubling to 2 thinly sliced pears in 1 tablespoon butter (add more butter if you need it, but it's already a bunch)

**You don't need to boil for 5 whole minutes, just make sure the sugar is fully melted (the bubbles get smooth and stretchy, and you can't see any grains. Stir once to ensure uniform melting, and then stir in the whipping cream, which you can stir more vigorously than the sugar (sugar sauces such as caramel tend to get grainy if you stir them too much). Boiling it for 5 minutes the first time I made this caused me to burn the sugar. there is NO saving burned sugar, it is awful and must be tossed.


I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as my family & friends did. Even if you do not like dates or pears, it is delicious. It doesn't really taste like either, it's just very sweet, somewhat fruity, and very moist! I recommend serving it warm with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.