Coffee Toffee Pudding

Any South Africans reading this will skim the ingredients and go 'Wait, that's a Malva Pudding'.

Technically, it is- but I've added coffee in both the batter and toffee sauce, and don't want to title a traditional dessert I've made a change to and risk being made to walk the plank!

Instead, I've reduced the sugar content and added the warm bitter notes of coffee to present a slightly lighter version of what is possibly the most decadent thing South Africa has come up with.

It's still indulgent- don't get me wrong- feed this to that pretty girl you have your eye on and she'll upgrade you from the friendzone to the 'maybe there's potential here...eventually' zone (I'm not a miracle worker! But you're a wonderful human being and if she doesn't love you for who you are, she doesn't deserve you anyway!)

Anyhow, add pops of tart fruit, textural nuts and a home made custard and you won't need anyone else's approval- you'll have delicious, elegant dessert who loves you for who you are...and the lower sugar content will do less damage to your bod than it's traditional counterpart will.

(It also freezes beautifully for up to 3 WHOLE MONTHS, puddin' time all the time, yo!)

Here's the how-to!

Ingredients

Sponge:

2 Tbs Salted Butter
1/2 cup Natural Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Dates, soaked in 1/2 Cup Hot, strong Black Coffee
2 eggs
1 Tbs apricot jam
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Full Cream Milk
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
Good pinch of Salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/360F and grease 9 inch/25cm cake pan or large muffin tin for individual puddings.
Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
Puree apricot jam and cooled dates with coffee used for soaking into a smooth paste and whip into butter mixture.
Add eggs one at a time and beat to incorporate.
Whisk in milk and baking soda and stir completely before adding vinegar.
Sift in flour, baking powder and baking soda and stir in gently in a figure 8 motion until just incorporated.
Pour into cake or muffin pan and bake for 35 mins (if using a muffin pan) or 45 minutes if using a cake pan. (Check by inserting a toothpick into the middle, it's ready if it comes out clean)

While the sponge is baking, make the sauce.

Coffee Toffee Sauce:

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs Fine Apricot Jam
1/4 Cup Salted Butter
½ cup Strong Black Coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

Bring all ingredients to a boil and lower heat to simmer for 5 minutes and set aside.
Once the sponge is ready, pour sauce carefully all over and return to the oven for 5 minutes to soak in and form a lovely bubbly topping.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving- sugar burns!

Custard:

3 Cups Full-Cream Milk
1 Cup Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp Salted Butter
1 Whole Egg and 2 yolks
1 Tbsp Corn Starch
2 Tbsp Plain Flour
1/2 Cup of Castor Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract (or 2 Tsp Moirs Vanilla Essence for authenticity- South Africans only got the real stuff a few years ago)

Method:

Bring milk and cream to a simmer over medium heat, or nuke at 30 second intervals on high until simmering.
Meanwhile, beat egg, sugar, flour and cornstarch until frothy and the sugar completely dissolved, pass through a fine mesh sieve to remove any unwanted bits. We want smooooth custard.
Ladle hot milk into the egg mixture a little at a time and whisk thoroughly to temper the eggs.
Transfer to a pot and whisk over low heat until thickened to a smooth, ribbony custard.

To Serve:

Place a pool of custard on the plate and top with pudding (you can pour the custard over the pudding, but I prefer it to keep its structural integrity, and show off the lovely glossy top)
Decorate with tart fruit ( I used satsuma and raspberries, but passionfruit, orange or even pineapple works beautifully) nuts for texture (I used pecan, but cashews are particularly good too!) and mint for pops of freshness.
Serve with strong coffee or a dry red wine.

Now, for a gratuitous list of photos, because yum!