Spiced Clementine Sticky Toffee Pudding
Spiced clementine sticky toffee pudding is the ultimate festive dessert. The sponge is made with boiled clementines and dates then served with a salted orange toffee sauce.
Servings: 12 People
Equipment
- 9"x13" Baking Tin
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Microplane/Grater
- Stick Blender
- Large Saucepan
Ingredients
Clementine & Date Puree
- 4 Clementines (Washed - See Notes)
- 180 g Pitted Dates
- ¾ tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
- 125 ml Boiling Water (From The Kettle)
Brown Butter
- 250 g Unsalted Butter
Clementine Sponge
- 250 g Dark Brown Sugar
- 100 g Black Treacle
- Zest Of 3 Clementines (Or 1 Orange)
- 4 Large Eggs
- 250 g Sour Cream (At Room Temperature)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Almond Extract (Optional)
- 375 g Plain Flour
- 80 g Ground Almonds
- 2½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Table Salt
Salted Orange Toffee Sauce
- 250 g Unsalted Butter
- 550 g Double Cream
- 250 g Dark Brown Sugar
- 160 g Golden Syrup
- 60 g Clementine Juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
- ½ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tbsp Grand Marnier (Optional - See Notes)
Instructions
Clementine & Date Puree - Part 1
- Add the clementines into a medium saucepan, cover with water then set over a medium heat.
- Bring the water to a simmer then turn the down and cook the clementines gently until they are tender. This will take around 30-40 minutes and you'll know when they're done when a skewer slides into a clementine with little to no resistance. The skins will be soft once cooked.
- Whilst your clementines are cooking, roughly chop the dates then add into a bowl with the bicarbonate of soda & boiling water (from the kettle!). Stir to combine then leave to soak for 30 minutes, or until the clementines are cooked.
Brown Butter
- Whilst your clementines are cooking, make the brown butter. To do this, chop the butter into evenly sized pieces then place into a medium saucepan. Set over a medium heat & allow to melt, stirring regularly with a spatula. Keep cooking, until the butter starts to foam, smells nutty & you can see that the milk solids in the bottom of the pan have turned golden brown.
- Once cooked, transfer the butter to a bowl & leave to cool slightly.
- Preheat an oven to 170°c/150°c fan (338°f/302°f) now as well. You'll also need to grease & line a 9"x13" baking tin with baking parchment.
Clementine Puree - Part 2
- Once your clementines are cooked, use a slotted spoon to lift them out of the water and into a sieve (or colander) so that they can drain for a few minutes.
- Next, slice each clementine in half, remove any seeds then weigh out 220g of cooked clementine (skins included). Don't worry about chopping the clementines up as they're going to blitzed.Make sure to trim off any green stems off the clementines first, if needed.
- Add the weighed out clementine into the bowl of dates then blend smooth using a stick blender.
Clementine Sponge
- Add the brown butter and clementine date puree into a large mixing bowl along with the brown sugar, treacle and clementine zest then whisk by hand until smooth and combined.
- Add the sour cream, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts into the date mix then whisk again, to incorporate.
- Sift the plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon & ginger into a separate then add in the ground almonds and salt. Whisk to combine then add into the batter.
- Whisk the batter gently, to incorporate the flour then give the sides of the bowl a quick scrape down with a spatula, to make sure that all of the flour has been incorporated!
- Once mixed, immediately pour the batter into the lined tin then bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes – 1 hour, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.The bicarb will start to react as soon as the batter is mixed, so make sure to get it in the oven as quickly as possible!
- Once cooked, let the sponge cool completely in the tin before cutting into portions. Or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Salted Orange Toffee Sauce
- Chop up the butter, add into a large saucepan then cook over a medium heat, until browned.Cook the butter the same way as you did for the sponge.
- Once the butter is cooked, take the pan off the heat & add in the cream, sugar, golden syrup and clementine juice. Set the pan over a low heat then cook, whisking regularly until the sugar has dissolved. This will only take a couple of minutes.Whisking the sauce helps incorporate the brown butter properly.
- Next, turn the heat up to medium-high, bring the sauce to the boil, cook for another 3 minutes then take off the heat.
- To finish, stir the vanilla, salt and Grand Marnier (if using) into the sauce.The toffee sauce can be served immediately or left to cool then stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To Reheat - In A Microwave
- Place a portion of sponge into a bowl, top with a generous amount of the toffee sauce then microwave on high for 30 seconds – 1 minute, until hot. Serve with a scoop of ice cream!
To Reheat - In An Oven
- Preheat an oven to 160°c/140°c fan (320°f/284°f).
- Place portions of sponge into a heatproof dish then add a spoonful of toffee sauce on top of each.
- Cover the dish with foil & bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until piping hot.
- Whilst the sponge is being reheated, warm some extra toffee sauce up (either in a pan on the stove, or in a jug in a microwave).
- To serve, place the portions of sponge onto plates then pour over some extra sauce. Serve with scoops of ice cream.
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1. To Cook In An Aga – Bake the sponge on a grid shelf placed on the floor of the baking oven. Cook the clementines on the simmering plate. Start the toffee sauce on the simmering plate then move over to the boiling plate to boil. Use the boiling plate to brown the butter for the date sponge & toffee sauce.
2. Clementines - You'll need to weigh the clementines once you've cooked them. Save the clementines that you zested for the sponge, to juice for the toffee sauce.
If you're in the UK (as of October 2026), some supermarket citrus is labelled as the rind not being suitable for consumption. Make sure to double check this! Organic citrus fruit tends to be fine to use.
3. Dates - Make sure to use pitted dates for the sponge. If your dates have the stones in, make sure to take them out then weigh out 180 grams. I used Deglet Nour dates but Medjool dates will work as well. Sometimes dates in supermarkets are just labelled as “pitted dates”, these are fine to use as well!
4. Grand Marnier - An orange liqueur which adds an extra layer of flavour to the toffee sauce! You can leave the alcohol out completely if you'd prefer though or use another liqueur like Amaretto or brandy.
5. Butter – Make sure to use unsalted butter for both the sponge & the sauce. Not only is it easier to brown but it also allows us to control the salt content.
6. Baking Tin – I cooked my sponge in a Nordic Ware baking tin. Other tins will work but I’d recommend using a tin that’s 2.5 inches tall.
7. Storage – Both the sponge & toffee sauce should be stored in the fridge & are best eaten within 3 days.
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