Americanized Sticky Toffee Pudding

For Pudding:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8×8 pan. Set aside.

Brew 6 ounces of strong black tea in a large measuring cup. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk until mix is light and fluffy. About 2 minutes. Add one egg at a time to butter and sugar mix, beating thoroughly after each egg is added. Next, sift the flour into the mix, folding very gently until just incorporated. About 10 strokes. Set mix aside.

Take the brewed tea and measure it to 6 ounces again. Sometimes the steam makes the tea vaporize. Add cocoa powder, all spice, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda and baking powder to the tea. It will bubble up, that’s fine.
Add tea to the creamed mix and stir well with a spoon. It will be quite runny, and that’s the way you want it.
Pour mixture into greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Keep a close eye on the pudding towards the end. It’s best when a little moist.

Once baked, let the pudding cool for 5 minutes.

For the toffee sauce:

While the pudding is cooling, add 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and 6 Tablespoons of heavy cream to a saucepan and cook on medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly.

Remove sauce from heat and slice pudding into even squares. Dish pudding onto serving plates and spoon a bit of sauce over the top.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side and a sprinkle of chopped pecans on top (ice cream and pecans are optional).

If you prefer, this pudding is also very good with hot chocolate sauce in place of the toffee sauce.

Serves 8-9