Sticky toffee pudding

Restaurateur Simon Hopkinson first came upon sticky toffee pudding in The Good Food Guide Dinner Party Book (published by the Consumers' Association and Hodder & Stoughton in 1971) hidden in the section at the back under 'Additional Recipes'.

He first cooked it in 1975, in his first UK restaurant, The Shed, near Fishguard in Pembrokeshire. Here is the Good Food Guide's version, unabridged, unchanged and, he is certain, the original upon which all other recipes since have been based.

Ingredients

55gm softened butter

170gm granulated sugar

lb flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg, whisked

170gm stoned dates

pint boiling water

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

70gm brown sugar

40gm butter

2 tbsp double cream

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together. Sift the flour and baking powder. Beat the whisked egg into the creamed mixture with a little of the flour. Continue beating for a minute or so, before mixing in the rest of the flour.

Flour the dates lightly and chop them finely. Pour the boiling water over them. Mix in the bicarbonate of soda and vanilla. Add this mixture to the batter and blend well. Turn it into a buttered cake tin (11in x 7in). Bake for about 40 minutes in a moderate oven (180C, gas mark 4).

For the toffee, heat the brown sugar, butter and cream, and simmer for 3 minutes. Pour over the hot pudding and place under a hot grill until it bubbles (it burns easily).