the most perfect, rich and spongey dark chocolate cake, smothered with buttery sweet salted date caramel and sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts.
It’s that time of year.. the busy holiday parade, and you’re looking for the perfect thing to make and bring home to the family. Then you find THIS cake. The one. You’ll never need another store bought pumpkin pie again.
You can dress it up or leave it simple …just that toffee sauce soaking into the perfectly sweet, delicious cake. But adding crushed hazelnuts makes this already amazing cake absolutely magical. There’s just something about it that is homey and cozy and at the same time unimaginably delicious.
The options don’t stop there, you could also make this cake gingerbread, chai, vanilla, apple, or even pumpkin flavored, rather than dark chocolate.
We made six cute little Bundt cakes and had so much cake batter left that we were able to make a full bread loaf sized cake, as well! Follow along below for step by step instructions on making this positively scrumptious holiday treat :)
Tips:
You can substitute the butter with mashed banana, applesauce, pumpkin purée or sweet potato.
Soaked dates are used in the cake batter and to make the salted date caramel sauce. Dates give us that gorgeous toffee-like caramelly, buttery, delicious sweetness. Finely chopping the dates and soaking them in boiling water + baking soda + vanilla is so important to the success of this recipe.
"A simply magical holiday dessert that everyone will love."
If you make this cake, please leave a comment below or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you and always do my best to respond to every comment. Snap a picture of your recreation and tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is the favorite part of my day! <3
HOW TO MAKE IT?
Step 1, start by making your “toffee” sauce. Boil some water and pour it over a medium bowl filled with 1 cup of pitted medjool dates, 1/2 tsp baking soda and vanilla extract. Cover and let the dates soak for about 15 minutes. Once finished, add to a food processor with maple syrup, tahini or nut butter, and a generous pinch of sea salt. Next, preheat the oven to 350F while you make the cake batter.
Step 2, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Step 3, fold in your wet ingredients; maple syrup, eggs, pumpkin, yogurt, and softened butter.
Step 4, at this point, you get to choose the base flavor of your cake. I wanted dark chocolate, so I folded in melted dark chocolate and dark cocoa powder. Also add 2 - 3 tbsp of your salted date caramel sauce. Mix.
Step 5, pour your cake batter into your greased mold/pan of choice.
Step 6, bake at 350F for 20 minutes if using mini Bundt mold or a cupcake pan. If making one large cake, you’ll need to bake 40-45 minutes. Once finished, allow to cool ~10 minutes before removing from the pan.
Step 7, this step is optional, but I used a toothpick to poke holes in the bottom of my cakes, then poured espresso over the cakes to saturate them, then set them aside and let them sit another 10 minutes. Smother your cakes in the toffee sauce, coat with crushed hazelnuts, slice, and enjoy!
Sticky Toffee Cake
Ingredients:
DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar *
½ cup (1 stick / 115g) unsalted butter (softened to room temp)
2 eggs, room temperature (or flax egg)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
2 tbsp yogurt, 2 tbsp pumpkin purée
2 - 4 tbsp toffee sauce*
1/2 bar dark chocolate, melted
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder *optional
TOFFEE SAUCE:
1 cup pitted medjool dates
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp tahini or nut butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
(makes 6 mini cakes and one loaf-sized cake)
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Start by making your “toffee” sauce. Boil some water and pour it over a medium bowl filled with 1 cup of pitted medjool dates, 1/2 tsp baking soda and vanilla extract. Cover and let the dates soak for about 15 minutes. Once finished, add to a food processor with maple syrup, tahini or nut butter, and a generous pinch of sea salt. Set aside for later.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (except cocoa powder) and whisk to combine.
3. Slowly fold in the wet ingredients and stir until no clumps remain. We don’t want any streaks of flour hanging about. At this point, you get to choose the base flavor of your cake. I wanted dark chocolate, so I folded in melted dark chocolate and dark cocoa powder. Also add 2 - 3 tbsp of your salted date caramel sauce. Mix.
4. Pour your cake batter into your greased mold/pan of choice.
5. Bake 20 minutes if using a mini Bundt mold or a cupcake pan. If you are making one large cake, you’ll need to bake 40-45 minutes. Once finished, allow to cool ~10 minutes before removing from the pan.
6. This step is optional, but I used a toothpick to poke holes in the bottom of my cakes, then poured espresso over the cakes to saturate them. I set them aside and let them sit another 10 minutes. Smother your cakes in the toffee sauce, coat with crushed hazelnuts, slice, and enjoy!
*store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week. *Nutritional values may vary based on what you use.
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