How To Make: Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding

Award winning chef Bettina Campolucci has launched her first book – Happy Food. Exploring new ways to heal her body and mind, Bettina began to adjust her approach to food and documented her recipes on her blog bettinaskitchen.

As well as having published a selection of recipes, Bettina also runs successful workshops in London, sharing her knowledge on different foods and their effects on mental health, wellness and female health in particular. Throughout these workshops, Bettina also teaches participants how to make cheese, bread and milk without dairy or gluten/wheat. Ultimately, highlighting how much money can be saved from making milk at home from nuts or pumpkin seeds.

“It upset me for a very long time when I discovered that I was intolerant to gluten, particularly when I realised that I would not be able to enjoy one of my favourite desserts. I promise you this is better than the original.”

Ingredients

Serves 6

Batch cookable, freezable, lasts for +5 days in the fridge.

• Almond milk or plant milk, shop-bought or home-made, 250 ml
• Medjool dates, 300g, stoned
• Coconut sugar, 80 g
• Coconut oil, 125 ml
• Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), 1 tsp
• Gluten-free flour mix, 95g (recipe below)
• Vanilla pod (bean), 1, seeds scraped
• Ground cinnamon, 1 tsp
• Ground cardamom, ½ tsp
• Ground clove, ½ tsp
• Pink Himalayan salt, a pinch
• For the sticky toffee sauce
• Coconut sugar, 140g
• Coconut milk, 250ml
• Salt, ½ tsp
• Vanilla custard (recipe below)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (375F/Gas 5). Line a 20cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper or use a good-quality silicone mould.
2. Start with the pudding. In a small saucepan gently heat the milk and dates for 5–10 minutes until the dates have softened. Once softened, set aside.
3. In a blender, blitz the coconut sugar and coconut oil until the sugar has mostly disintegrated.
4. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the milk and date mix – it will start to fizz and bubble, but that is okay.
5. In a bowl, combine the flour, vanilla, spices, pinch of salt, coconut oil and sugar mix along with the dates and milk mixture and give everything a good stir.
6. Pour into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
7. While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Heat a pan over medium heat, add the coconut sugar and coconut milk and let it heat through.
8. Add the salt and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for 20 minutes until the caramel has thickened. Stir it occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. A great way of knowing if it’s ready is to see if it sticks to the back of your spoon.
9. Stir in a little more salt if desired and either use it straightaway or let it cool down before storing in a glass jar – it will become even thicker as it cools.
10. Once the cake is done, transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy with a home-made custard and a drizzle of sticky toffee sauce.

Tip: The cake, custard and toffee sauce all last for a long time in the fridge – well, that is, if you can keep your hands off them! – or freezer.

“I grew up loving custard, it was one of my staple foods as a child. This lovely recipe is a great alternative and a fantastic base for several sweet treats.

Makes 500 ml, serves 4

• Very fine cornflour, such as Maizena, 2 tbsp
• Coconut milk (preferably from a Tetra Pak that is consistently creamy and doesn’t separate), 500ml
• Maple syrup, 3 tbsp
• Whole vanilla pod, 1, scraped

Blend the cornflour with a little bit of of the coconut milk in a medium pan over a medium heat, whisking until you have an even consistency. Then add the rest of the ingredients including the scraped vanilla pod – there is still a lot of goodness there – whisking until the cornflour and vanilla are fully incorporated into the coconut milk.

Whisk until the custard starts to thicken and then, as soon as the mixture begins to boil, take it off the heat and let it cool.

“Many shop-bought gluten-free flour mixes can be unpredictable. Make a double batch of this and you will thank me later. It is not only practical but, more importantly, it works a treat!”

Makes 900g flour

• Brown rice flour, 210g
• Buckwheat flour, 140g
• White rice flour, 70g
• Oat flour, 40g
• Potato starch/flour, 40g
• Tapioca flour, 40g

Mix all the flours together and store in an airtight container.

Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding

A gluten-free, vegan recipe for the classic dessert.

4 from 1 vote

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Course Dessert

Cuisine Global

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 250 ml Almond milk or plant milk shop-bought or home-made
• 300 g Medjool dates stoned
• 80 g Coconut sugar
• 125 ml Coconut oil
• 1 tso Bicarbonate of soda 
• 95 g Gluten-free flour mix
• 1 Vanilla pod seeds scraped
• t tsp Ground cinnamon
• ½  tsp Ground cardamom
• ½  tsp Ground clove
• Pink Himalayan salt a pinch

For the sticky toffee sauce

• 140 g Coconut sugar
• 250 ml Coconut milk
• ½ tsp Salt

For the vanilla custard

• 2 tbsp Very fine cornflour, such as Maizena
• 500 ml Coconut milk  preferably from a Tetra Pak that is consistently creamy and doesn’t separate
• 3 tbsp Maple syrup
• 1 Whole vanilla pod scraped

Make your own Gluten-free flour mix

• 210 g Brown rice flour
• 140 g Buckwheat flour
• 70 g White rice flour
• 40 g Oat flour
• 40 g Potato starch/flour
• 40 g Tapioca flour

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 190C (375F/Gas 5). Line a 20cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper or use a good-quality silicone mould.
• Start with the pudding. In a small saucepan gently heat the milk and dates for 5–10 minutes until the dates have softened. Once softened, set aside.
• In a blender, blitz the coconut sugar and coconut oil until the sugar has mostly disintegrated.
• Add the bicarbonate of soda to the milk and date mix – it will start to fizz and bubble, but that is okay.
• In a bowl, combine the flour, vanilla, spices, pinch of salt, coconut oil and sugar mix along with the dates and milk mixture and give everything a good stir.
• Pour into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
• While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Heat a pan over medium heat, add the coconut sugar and coconut milk and let it heat through.
• Add the salt and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for 20 minutes until the caramel has thickened. Stir it occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. A great way of knowing if it’s ready is to see if it sticks to the back of your spoon.
• Stir in a little more salt if desired and either use it straightaway or let it cool down before storing in a glass jar – it will become even thicker as it cools.
• Once the cake is done, transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy with a home-made custard and a drizzle of sticky toffee sauce.
• Tip: The cake, custard and toffee sauce all last for a long time in the fridge – well, that is, if you can keep your hands off them! – or freezer.

To make the vanilla custard

• Blend the cornflour with a little bit of of the coconut milk in a medium pan over a medium heat, whisking until you have an even consistency. Then add the rest of the ingredients including the scraped vanilla pod – there is still a lot of goodness there – whisking until the cornflour and vanilla are fully incorporated into the coconut milk.
• Whisk until the custard starts to thicken and then, as soon as the mixture begins to boil, take it off the heat and let it cool.

To prepare the gluten-free flour mix

• Mix all the flours together and store in an airtight container.

Keyword Vegan

This article was updated on Thursday 22nd April, 2021.