Sticky Date Pudding

My friend claims that she often craves salty foods, mainly chips, but can easily go without dessert. I’m the complete opposite, dessert is my weakness. While trying to figure out a topic for this week’s blog, I began thinking about my favorite dessert and concluded that there was no way I could select one. However, when brainstorming desserts I have tried in the last few years, viola! Sticky date pudding instantly came to mind.

Sticky date pudding is a very dense piece of cake, filled with, as the title implies, dates and, of course, cups of additional sugar. While the cake would probably taste fine alone, its usually served drizzled with a caramel-like sauce and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. The cake is delicious, but because of its richness, only a slice is needed to satisfy a sweet tooth.

I remember the first time I read “sticky date pudding” on the dinner menu while sitting in the Newman College dining hall (Newman College was where I lived while in Australia) and thinking when will they serve some form of chocolate. Dessert was typically a type of fruit cake or occasionally, a meringue-like dessert called pavlova. They were all good, but, still, I wanted chocolate (which, eventually they did serve in the form of a deliciously rich, dark chocolate cake).

My initial disappointment with the night’s dessert choice instantly transformed as I took my first bit into what has become one of my favorite desserts. I have yet to make it on my own and, quite frankly, I was happy not knowing the amount of sugar and so forth that went into making such a rich cake. But, then again, it is dessert. 

There is also a vegan version!