The ultimate cold weather comfort dessert!
Throughout the last five years, the CANADIAN BIRCH COMPANY has attended many handmade markets across Canada and we have witnessed firsthand the delighted reactions of those who try our Birch Whiskey Toffee Sauce for the first time. There have been countless times during these tasting events where customers have immediately remarked, "This would be fantastic on a sticky toffee pudding!". To be perfectly honest, I had never tried sticky toffee pudding. It wasn't something that our mother had in her holiday cooking arsenal when we were young and aside from the name, I had no concept of what it would taste like. So I decided to see what all the fuss was about and to adapt a recipe to include Birch.
Amber Birch Syrup makes this traditional favorite just a little smoother by subbing out unhealthy corn syrup and a portion of the traditional molasses for the toffee figgy flavor of pure birch syrup. And the final decadent touch is a generous pour of our ready-made Birch Whiskey Toffee Sauce! True, this is a sweet sinful dessert, but it's high in antioxidants, fibre and potassium, and sweetened with natural sugars from birch syrup, molasses and dates. The brown sugar can definitely be decreased by 1/4 - 1/3 cup without affecting the basic structure.
Birch Sticky Toffee Pudding with Birch Whiskey Toffee Sauce
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Preheat: 350 F Serves: 12 regular sized muffins Prep Time: 20 minutes |
Grease muffin tins well or add paper liners. |
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Ingredients: 8 ounces of chopped dried dates. 1 1/2 cups of water 1/3 cup of butter 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 Tsp. vanilla extract 2 extra large eggs 3 Tbsp. Amber Birch Syrup 2 Tbsp molasses 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 Tsp baking powder 1 Tsp baking soda 212 ml Birch Whiskey Toffee Sauce 2 cups of Whipped Cream (optional) |
Add dates and water to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for five minutes while preparing batter. Cream the butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add Amber Birch Syrup and molasses and beat well. Add the flour and baking powder to the creamed mixture, beat just until smooth. Puree the date mixture in a food processor, then mix in the baking soda. Add the hot date mixture to the batter and mix until smooth. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for 18 - 20 minutes until center is just firm. Serve warm with a 2 Tbsp pour of Birch Whiskey Toffee Sauce per pudding and top with a dollop of whipped cream. |
Beverage Pairings:
Honestly this is a filling dessert! Go light on dinner and pair with a slow sipping aperitif like Cinzano or a dessert wine.
Birch Cooking Tip:
Use Amber Birch Syrup as a substitute for molasses 1:1, honey half to one and maple syrup half to one in general. Birch syrup is not as sweet as these other alternatives but packs twice the flavor punch. Adjust sugar in the recipe according to your taste.