A gloriously delicious two-layer sticky toffee cake with a homemade toffee sauce, toffee buttercream frosting and more! heaven on a plate!
Sticky toffee cake
I’m in the mood to give you guys another very well requested recipe… and here it is. After the downright delicious success of my sticky toffee loaf cake, I had SO many requests for a layer cake version!
This is a very straight up variation on my loaf cake version – but obviously just changed slightly to fit round tins! The wonderful thing really about converting loaf cakes to round cakes is that they tend to switch quite well, it’s just the baking time that changes!
Tins
I went for two 8″/20cm round tins for this, rather than a three later version like some of my other cakes because this cake is rich and has such a deep flavour, that two-layer is definitely plenty enough for me!
Dates
Now, THIS IS IMPORTANT. That needs the capitals because… I know I will get some people having a moan about the medjool dates. I will say this here, and later on, and probably again, but PLEASE USE THEM.
I know that not everyone likes dates, but for that very reason… these are blended to a puree. There are no lumps of date, there is nothing lumpy at all – and it just honestly makes the flavour SO MUCH BETTER. Please, use them. You can’t just leave them out either as that will mess up the recipe!
Treacle
After that – the black treacle. This may have different names in different countries – but it really is a black coloured thick syrup/treacle substance – and it’s really quite bitter on it’s own. However, mixing that with the rest of the ingredients gets THE taste you are after!
If you can’t access it, you can use your nearest alternative (that again depends on where you are) – but for example you can use golden syrup in the UK. It does result in a lighter and less sticky toffee flavour and colour, but otherwise – it’s the best substitute!
Bake
The mixture is quite a runny mix, but that’s okay! It’s got a lot of ingredients in comparison to a normal cake batter – but it’s 100% worth it! You just need to split it evenly between two tins, and bake!
Sauce
For the sauce, you can easily cheat and use shop bought toffee sauce if you prefer, there’s definitely nothing wrong with that! However, I just adore the homemade sauce. It’s smooth, it’s delicious and it’s so easy to make!
Add the ingredients to a pan, melt, boil for a short while, and leave to cool. So simple, so worth it. Again, you can substitute the black treacle for golden syrup here, but the colour/flavour will change again! I do also recommend the dark brown sugar for both the cake and sauce again for flavour and colour!
Buttercream
For the buttercream, you want to use block butter. The kind you get wrapped in foil – not a spread. Because you are adding in a liquid, the sauce, you want the firmness of the butter. Let the butter be at room temperature before starting, it makes it easier! Add in the icing sugar, beat, and then add in the sauce, and beat again!
Decoration
Slather it on the cakes, or pipe – and you’ll have the most epic cake. Drizzle on some extra sauce, because why not?! Add some sprinkles, add whatever you want!
I love to serve this with a scoop of vanilla or clotted cream ice cream, or when I want something really delicious and filling, some custard! Of course, it’s perfect on it’s own though. I hope you love this recipe! X
Sticky Toffee Cake!
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Ingredients
For the Sponge
- 250 g medjool dates (I weighed with stones in)
- 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 180 ml boiling water
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 225 g dark brown sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 250 g self raising flour
- 125 g black treacle
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
For the Sauce
- 150 ml double cream
- 1 tbsp black treacle
- 75 g dark brown sugar
- 50 g unsalted butter
For the Buttercream
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 400 g icing sugar
- 85 g sticky toffee sauce (above)
Decoration
- Sprinkles
- Fudge pieces
- Sticky toffee sauce (above)
Instructions
For the Sponge
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Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan and line two 8″/20cm round cake tins with parchment paper!
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De-stone your medjool dates, and chop up into quarters.
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Add them to a bowl, along with the bicarbonate of soda and the boiling water and leave to sit for 10 minutes. Once sat, blitz the mixture into a puree with a food processor, or blender until smooth!
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Add your unsalted butter to a bowl, along with the dark brown sugar and beat until combined and smooth!
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Add the eggs into the mixture one at a time, and beat in each time.
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Add in the flour, treacle, vanilla and pureed date mixture and beat again until smooth!
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Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake the cake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until baked through! I test with a skewer, and listen for the cake to make no sounds!
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Once baked, leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, and then leave to cool fully on a wire rack.
For the Sauce
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Whilst the cake is baking… make the sauce!
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Add all the ingredients into a pan, and heat on a low heat till the butter has melted, and everything is mixed in.
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Bring the mixture to the boil and boil for 1 minute.
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Once the mixture has boiled, remove from the heat and leave the sauce to cool fully. Stir occasionally so a skin isn’t formed!
For the Buttercream
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Add your butter to a bowl or stand mixer and beat on it’s own for about 3-5 minutes until smooth and supple.
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Add in the Icing Sugar and beat in until fully mixed in!
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Add in the cooled sticky toffee sauce and mix again, until delicious and perfect.
For the Decoration
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Using your favourite piping tip, pipe your sticky toffee buttercream onto the cake!
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Drizzle the cake with some more sticky toffee sauce, and then sprinkle with your favourite sprinkles!
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Enjoy!!
Notes
- You MUST use the dates! They are pureed, there are no nasty lumps – and they make the cake SO MUCH BETTER.
- If you can’t access treacle, you can use golden syrup – the taste and look will be different though!
- This cake will last in for 3-4 days once made! If you store it in the fridge, the sponge may dry out a little, but it’ll still be damn tasty!
- You can buy some Toffee Sauce to use instead, but I always think the homemade kind is better!
- I used a 2d closed star piping tip for the decoration!
- This is inspired by my sticky toffee loaf cake!
- You can easily make one layer by halving the recipe!
ENJOY!
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J x
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