September 28, 2019
Sticky Toffee Loaf Cake!
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A sweet and delicious sticky toffee loaf cake with the sticky toffee sponge, sticky toffee buttercream frosting, and a sticky toffee sauce!
So, I’VE DELIVERED THE RECIPE YOU ARE AFTER. I realise I sound extremely excited…but there is a reason! I’ve had request after request for a Sticky Toffee Cake for as long as I can remember but I haven’t delivered… until now!
A few weeks ago I shared my white chocolate & raspberry loaf cake, and I am still astounded by how popular it was, so I thought now was the perfect time to post my sticky toffee loaf cake! Just loooook at it!!
Sticky Toffee Cake
So I will fully admit, without shame, that my favourite pudding in the world is a sticky toffee pudding. I just can’t resist, as soon as I see it on a menu or someone suggests it, I want to devour it. So, when it came to levelling up my baking as I always want to do, a sticky toffee cake came to mind.
A sticky toffee bake is just so beautiful as its rich in the flavour of the natural sugars from the dark brown sugar and treacle, as well as the natural sweetness from dates and all the extras in-between make one of the most delicious ideas in the world, and this cake is definitely one of them.
Sponge
When it came to the sponge, I could have just done an easy and more classic style sponge, but I really did want that rich and gooey flavour, so there’s a few more ingredients than my usual cake in all honesty. This cake is worth the extra effort to make it as combined with the sticky toffee pudding as possible.
Dates, bicarbonate of soda, dark brown sugar and black treacle aren’t the usual suspects in my bakes but trust me… they’re worth it.
- Dates – more on this below, but dates honestly just make this cake SO MUCH BETTER
- Water – sometimes it feels alien to add water to a recipe, but trust the process. You need it to blend the dates
- Bicarbonate of soda – this is also a part of the date mixture
- Butter – for the sponge you can use a baking spread or a block butter
- Sugar – I tend to use dark brown soft sugar for a super sticky toffee flavour, but light brown soft sugar can be used as well
- Eggs – I use three medium eggs, but two large should work well
- Flour – self raising as always!!!
- Treacle – I use black treacle again for the classic flavour, but golden syrup works really well
- Vanilla – optional as always, but adds a delicious flavour
Dates
So… for the cake mixture, I tried to stay as true to the ‘sticky toffee pudding’ theme as I could, so this cake DOES contain dates. Just thought I would say as in the jumble of requests for a sticky toffee cake, there was the occasional curve ball of a person who didn’t want dates…
As this is my first ‘proper’ sticky toffee recipe, I decided to stick to the classic recipe. I’ve made various sticky toffee recipes in my past (more to come, don’t worry!) and ones with dates really do have a lovely taste and are just much more classic.
You can use medjool dates, regular dates, or even already pre-chopped dates, but you want to soak them in the boiling water with the bicarb for 10 minutes and then blend them until smooth. Because they are blended, you don’t need to moan about the dates being in the cake as it really is worth it (just like adding the coffee to my chocolate fudge cake, despite people not liking coffee).
Sauce
The sauce is easy as anything make, and it really does just make this cake even better. I wanted to make a homemade sticky toffee sauce for the recipe, just like in the pudding, for the best possible results and oh wow did it work.
The mixture of double cream, black treacle, dark brown soft sugar and butter may sound a little odd, but it’s perfect. All you need to do is add the ingredients to a pan, and heat on a low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Then, you can turn up the heat, and boil for one minute and then pour in a bowl and leave to cool.
Just like with the cake itself, you can use a mixture of light brown soft sugar and golden syrup if you don’t want it as intense as the dark brown and treacle method, or if it’s what you just happen to have in the cupboard. Of course, you can just use a shop bought sauce if you prefer.
Buttercream
For the frosting on this cake, I wanted to make sure to do an easy topping that would be suitable for anyone, and an American buttercream frosting is the easiest option. The good part is that it is automatically better as you beat in the homemade sticky toffee sauce that you made earlier and it really does just taste so luxurious and heavenly.
I beat some block unsalted butter (not a spread) on its own for a couple of minutes to really loosen it down and soften the butter. Then mixing in the icing sugar is super easy, and then the toffee sauce as well. I pipe the buttercream onto the cake with my favourite medium 2D closed star piping tip, and then drizzle over some extra sauce and add on some sprinkles/fudge chunks. What more could you want?!
Tips & Tricks
- It’s best to use a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe, and I use this one, as it’s quite a chunky loaf cake. Some 2lb loaf tins are smaller than you think so make sure to only fill 2/3 of the tin with the mixture and make cupcakes with the spare mixture if you have any.
- This cake will last for 3+ days at room temperature once made
- You can freeze the cake for 3+ months
- You can swap the dark brown soft sugar for light brown soft sugar
- You can swap the black treacle for golden syrup
- I use this piping tip for the decoration
- I use these sprinkles for the decoration
Sticky Toffee Loaf Cake!
Ingredients
For the Sponge
- 200 g dates (destoned)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 150 ml boiling water
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 175 g dark brown sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 200 g self raising flour
- 100 g black treacle
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Sauce
- 150 ml double cream
- 1 tbsp black treacle
- 75 g dark brown sugar
- 50 g unsalted butter
For the Buttercream
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 300 g icing sugar
- 75 g sticky toffee sauce (above)
Decoration
- sprinkles
- fudge pieces
- sticky toffee sauce (above)
Instructions
For the Sponge
- Preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan and line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment paper!
- De-stone your dates, and chop up.
- Add them to a bowl, along with the bicarbonate of soda and the boiling water and leave to sit for 10 minutes.
- Once sat, blitz the mixture into a puree with a food processor, or blender until smooth!
- Add your unsalted butter to a bowl, along with the dark brown sugar and mix
- Add the eggs into the mixture one at a time, and beat in each time.
- Add in the flour, treacle, vanilla and pureed date mixture and beat again until smooth
- Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake the cake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until baked through!
- Once baked, leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, and then leave to cool fully on a wire rack.
For the Sauce
- Whilst the cake is baking... make the sauce!
- Add all the ingredients into a pan, and heat on a low heat till the butter has melted, and everything is mixed in.
- Bring the mixture to the boil and boil for 1 minute.
- Once the mixture has boiled, remove from the heat and leave the sauce to cool fully. Stir occasionally so a skin isn't formed!
For the Buttercream
- Add your unsalted butter to a bowl and mix until smooth
- Add in the icing sugar and beat in until fully mixed in
- Add in the cooled sticky toffee sauce and mix again until delicious and perfect.
For the Decoration
- Using your favourite piping tip, pipe your sticky toffee buttercream onto the cake!
- Drizzle the cake with some more sticky toffee sauce, and then sprinkle with your favourite sprinkles!
- Enjoy!!
Notes
- It’s best to use a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe, and I use this one, as it's quite a chunky loaf cake. Some 2lb loaf tins are smaller than you think so make sure to only fill 2/3 of the tin with the mixture and make cupcakes with the spare mixture if you have any.
- This cake will last for 3+ days at room temperature once made
- You can freeze the cake for 3+ months
- You can swap the dark brown soft sugar for light brown soft sugar
- You can swap the black treacle for golden syrup
- I use this piping tip for the decoration
- I use these sprinkles for the decoration
ENJOY!
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J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Hi Jane ! this is a wonderful recipe ! I wanted to know what to use instead of eggs? I’m allergic and I want to try this out!
Hi Jane, I have made this a couple of times as a loaf and as mini loaves, I was wondering would it turn out ok as a traybake?
It’s absolutely delish!!!
Can I miss out the dates for this recipe?
Many thanks
Hi Jane,
This looks scrumptious just like your other recipes.
Can I make the cake & sauce & put the sauce straight onto the top of the cake & miss out the buttercream??
Will it be okay & alright to eat cold as a cake?
Thank you.
Yes absolutely you can, sounds yummy! x
Hi Jane, can I use dried pitted dates for this recipe? If so, do I still keep the quantity at 200? Thanks x
Yes absolutely, but be sure to still soak them. Hope this helps! x
What a fantastic cake! Recipe was easy to follow and the cake came out perfectly! I only made half the quantity of icing and I added extra sauce on top! Thank you so much! And btw I love your book! So good!
Just made this Jane. Mine doesn’t look as beautiful as yours but tastes fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful creations. Can’t wait to get your book, much love
Hi Jane, I’ve tried 3 times to make this now and it always overflows. What am I doing wrong? I bake almost every day and never have an issue with any other recipes except for this one. I’ve tried this evening to split it into cupcakes and it’s still overflowed everywhere. I always use the correct loaf tin and on this occasion haven’t overfilled my cases but its still overflowed everywhere. What could the cause be?
This sounds like something isn’t being measured correctly – but also some tins can vary in size. It’s best to not fill the tin above 2/3 full!
Hi Jane! Love the recipe!
I am going to make it again but thinking to make it into cupcakes, how many do you think the mix would make and how will it affect baking time?
Thank you 😊
Hi Jane, can I use Medjool date paste instead of preparing and blending my own? How much would I use?
Hi Jane,
I am hoping to make again in 2 x 1lb tins and freeze one.
Would the toffee sauce/ buttercream freeze?
Thank you
Yes absolutely you can! They can be frozen for up to 3 months! x
This looks amazing! Just wondering if I could use
another kind of date for this? Thank you!
can this be made into cupcakes and how many would this make??
I’ve just made this & it’s by far my favourite recipe of yours! Just wondering would I be able to make it as cupcakes and put the buttercream in the middle??
Hi Jane, my toffee sauce is very dark, looks more like a chocolate sauce in colour than a honey colour like yours, I think its the combination of black treacle and dark brown sugar, but I cant understand why yours is such a different colour to mine, any ideas? Thank you
Hi Jane
I made your Sticky Toffee Pudding a few weeks ago and it was a massive hit with the family! I’m hoping to make this loaf cake for the weekend but I only have large eggs – would 2 be enough or should I use maybe 2 and a half? x
Hiya! Yayy I am so pleased you all love it. Use two large and an egg yolk! x
Thank you – I used the 2 large eggs plus a yolk as suggested and it turned out perfectly! It has that lovely deep toffee/treacle flavour you expect from a sticky toffee pudding but the cake itself is amazingly light – another 5* recipe. x
Can I use light brown sugar, instead of dark brown? I picked up the wrong one at the supermarket 😅
Hiya! Yeah that should be fine x
Hi Jane,
Quick question, do you need to keep the cake in the fridge or is ok left out at room temperature?
Amazing recipe as always!! 🥰
Hey! Room temp is fine, ahh thank you so much xx
I was super excited to make and I think from converting from grams to US measurements my cake did not turn out I was so disappointed
Hello. Unfortunately this cake is designed to make with the measurements provided so you as you have not followed the recipe it will not have worked. I would suggest investing in a set of digital scales so you can make all recipes with accuracy x
I want to use choked dates. Should i still soak these in water with bicarb of soda? Also, can i use baking soda instead of bicarb?
Yeah I would still soak them – and bicarbonate of soda is needed, not baking powder if thats what you meant.
Hi Jane, could I chopped the dates very finely instead of pureeing ? Thank you
OMG OMG. I’ve been wanting to make this cake for a couple of weeks finally got round to it today with my 10 year old son. ABSOLUTELY DELISH. The sponge is so light. the buttercream is so fluffy the toffee sauce is yummy. It’s decedant and rich and hits the sticky toffee spot. My absolute fav cake of the moment and contributing to more covid weight gain ! Thanks Jane. yummo !
I made this fabulous cake yesterday to take to a neighbour’s Christmas gathering socially distanced in their garage. We were 10, or was cold but we had heaters and brought our own or ordered in our food. I offered to make dessert. I discovered Sticky toffee pudding last year from Cosco.!!! I loved it.
Now Your STP LOAF was just sensational. Everyone raved about it. It did fall slightly in the middle during baking/cooling. Corrected with icing served with warmed sauce. Over the top!!!! Thank you so much.
Hi Jane, want to try your recipe
But can u suggest egg substitute pls.
Thanks
Hi Jane
This recipe leaves lots of left over sauce. Can I store it in the fridge? If so, for how long?
Thankyou
It’s perfect to be served with the cake (I never have any leftover because I love it) but it can be put in the fridge for 5 days, or frozen!
Thanks for sharing! Can I freeze this loaf?
Yes you can!
This looks so good! Do you use this loaf recipe for any other kinds?
Love this recipe and the cake is delicious! Quick question though, I have quite a bit of left over sauce, can the sauce be frozen or do you have any other suggestions of how to make use of it as I don’t want to waste it? I plan on making the rolo ice cream, would this sauce work in the ice cream?
Yess so you can freeze it, or use it in the ice cream! x
This is a win! Made this as per recipe but with 200g of pre-chopped dates. Absolutely delicious, and the best buttercream I’ve ever made!
Makes a lot of toffee sauce, but saving some to have with something else – bonus!
The cake was not that “sticky” but I really liked the texture! Wonder if you could poke holes in it and drizzle in some of the sauce – might try that next time!
If we were to use already chopped/destoned dates – would it still need to be 200g?
Thank you x
Yes I would – the stones really don’t weigh too much anyway so 200g is fine! x
Thank you! I made this cake and while I was decorating It (when the cake cooled) it had dipped in the middle, But only very slightly, would it still be safe to eat? X
Yes it will be fine! x
Hi Jane! For the sauce, would I be able to substitute the treacle for golden syrup?
I absolutely LOVE your recipes!! They’re amazing!!
Thanks x
Yes you can indeed!! And thank you! x
Hi Jane ,
Is it ok to use Stork instead of unsalted butter for the sponge ?
For the sponge, yes!!
Hi Jane,
I was wondering if you can use the sponge to make the classic sticky toffee recipe with just the sauce? Sorry if this is a silly question!
When I make stick toffee pudding it’s similar, but still different (and I will be posting one soon) – but for now you can do! x
This is amazing, went down a storm😀😀😀
A great recipe, used chopped dates rather than buying Medjool dates and de-stoning/chopping. Used 190g and worked well.
This looks so yummy! I’ve got my eye on a silicon mini loaf tin to make individual loaves. Mainly because they’re so cute, but also easier to portion out for colleagues at work 😊
If I were to make this in a mini loaf tin (with loaves of about 9cm x 4.5cm), how long do you think they might take to cook? I’ve never made mini loaves before. 20 minutes maybe? Thank you 😊
I’m not sure on the sizing so I can’t be sure of the timing – but a batch of cupcakes would take about 20 minutes for example x
Just wondering if you used the mini loaf tin as wanting to do this too and wondering how long they needed in the oven and how many they made
Hiya, I made this a few weeks back for fathers day and it was a big hit, everyone loved it. Its my grandads birthday tomorrow so I thought I’d make it again but it turned out a complete mess and I dont know why, I used the exact same ingredients as last time but it sunk in the middle and was not cooked at all, I put it back in for 10 mins covered with foil but still no luck. Have you any idea what I may have done wrong this time?! X
Cakes sinking and taking longer to bake can be a few things no matter if it’s worked before – over mixing, oven temp being slightly off, but mostly it’s opening the oven too soon – that’s a killer for cakes! x
Hi Jane
This sticky toffee loaf recipe is excellent, made it on Monday for my husband’s birthday and was a big hit. I would like to make it again but use 1 lb loaf tin, can you just half all the ingredients (would you use 2 eggs instead of 3?) and how long would you bake it for?
Hey! Yes I would half it, and use two medium eggs – baking time I’m not 100% sure – check from about half way through the oven door if you can, but it will be quite a bit less!
Hi Jane , Made many of your cakes and they are all delicious!
With this one I’m leaving out the dates (fussy son )
Am I right I’m thinking I’d leave the hot water and bicarbonate of soda out aswell ?
Thanks Mel
As mentioned in the post the dates are integral to the bake so can’t just be left out – it’s best to find a recipe that is already date free. They are pureed, so they are unnoticeable texture wise, but can’t just be left out of the cake x
Hi Jane, could I use this recipe as a traybake? either a 9″ x 9″ tin or a 12″ x 8″ tin?
I haven’t tried these measurements as a traybake yet (I have a traybake version coming soon!) but it’s worth a go! Try the 9″ square x
This sounds amazing! How much of the toffee sauce do you hold back for decorating? Or to put it another way, how much of toffee sauce do you add to the buttercream please?
How much you use in the buttercream is listed in the ingredients, and then you have leftover to drizzle/serve with!
I made this at the weekend, was delicious. Thank you for another fab recipe!
Hi, I only have a normal hand blender and don’t have a piping kit. Would this be ok still? Thanks
The hand blender is find for the dates – I often use a stick blender and it’s absolutely fine! And you don’t need a piping kit – I just wanted to make mine look all fancy haha!
Hi Jane, this looks sooo good! Going to bake this for my mum’s birthday. Where do you get your fudge pieces out of interest please?
They were just from the supermarket – most sell them in the baking section! X
I bought a bag of normal sized fudge and cut it up myself – it was much cheaper 🙂
Absolutely delicious. Made this for my Dads birthday as he is a massive Thorntons Toffee fan, so
with homemade toffee and then a sticky toffee cake he was more than suited 🙂
Looked and tasted amazing, a definite winner. Thank you.
Kim
hi jane …. i tried this recipe which by the way was awesome!!! but….. i measured everything right … preheated the oven and yet the cake sank in the middle badly….. i tried the recipe again the next day and meticulously weighed and measured but still happenned ….still tasted fab and filled the dip with more buttercream which was heavenly…. what did i do wrong please ?
Hey! So sinking can happen if you put too much raising agent in, but also if you open the oven door too early – a cake will nearly always sink if that happens! x
Hi, do you need to get the toffee sauce to a thick consistency before leaving to cook or does the sauce thicken up once it is cooled down? thanks x
Hey! The sauce isn’t ever like very thick, but it does thicken more once cooled down! It will thicken again once in the fridge too! x
hi jane, if I were to make half the toffee sauce (I want to make half the buttercream as well) do you think I’d still need to boil for a minute, or less? x
I’d still boil for about a minute or so, just to be sure!! x
Hi Jane,
Could this recipe be made into a birthday cake if I doubled the buttercream recipe to make more for the middle of 2 sponges? And thinking of covering the sides with the buttercream too?
Hey! Yes I would probably at least do another half of the buttercream, if not double! And this will split into two tins!
Hi Jane,
Thanks so much for the response!
I may add another half to all the cake ingredients to make it a 3 sponge cake just to make it a bit more wow for my friends birthday! That would be enough mixture for 3 sponges wouldn’t it?
Thanks again, can’t wait to make it!
Best wishes x
Hey! Yes 1.5x would be enough for three!! xx
Lovely recipe Jane! Made this for my dads quarantine birthdays as it’s his fave cake! How messy is Black Treacle though! (First time using this in baking), thanks once again x
Hahaha yes! One good tip is to put a spoon in boiling water for about 5 minutes before, and then the black treacle so slide straight off!
Scrummy yummy, absolutely loved this
Hello! Could this recipe work as two ‘sponges’ with the icing in the middle? I.e a birthday cake?
I made this today. It’s stunning.
Can the whole cake be frozen. As in like slices as it’s two much for all at one time fit me
Thank you
Yes it can! I freeze in slices, wrapping each slice well in clingfilm and then storing in a tub!
Hey
Is it possible to make this recipe but as cupcakes instead? Or would it need to be altered? Thanks 🙂
It can, it just makes a lot of cupcakes!
I had a bag of dried dates that needed using so made this loaf cake earlier this week, easy to make, delicious to eat, the toffee buttercream was to die for!!
I buy pre-pitted dates, how many should I use since the recipe calls for dates before the pits are removed?
Probably about 175-180g?
I can’t get my hand on dates, would the recipe work if I just left the dates out? Thank you
Not for this one, it’s quite integral to the bake!
Made this cake for a friend’s bonfire party and it was a big hit. Tastes amazing. I used 200g of ready stoned dates and it still worked out. For anyone not liking dates you honestly won’t notice them as no visible sign and the flavour comes from the combination of ingredients not just the dates. My teenage boys had no idea what they had eaten and have already requested I make another.
Ahh yay!! I’m the same – I know a lot of people that don’t like them, but as they are pureed it just enhances the toffee-ness!!
Hi … I really enjoy your recipes and have had great success with all I have tried until I baked this one .. although the taste is fantastic on each occasion it has sunk in the middle .. help 😄
It just means it wasn’t baked for long enough! x
Mine has sunk too but the skewer was coming out clean?
Sometimes it can still need more baking – a really good technique is to listen to the cake, and if its still making a bubbling/crackling sound it hasn’t finished baking and needs longer x
I hate dates usually, but as they were pureed it worked well, so easy!
Hi Jane, this cake looks so incredibly delicious and I know my hubby would love it. Plus being packed full of fruit is a bonus. Quick question, the quantity of Dates in the recipe, is the before stoning or after? Xx
Hey Sammie! Ah thats amazing!! Thank you so much! It’s before de-stoning, I de-stone in step two of the method! xxx
Should this be 200g of dates PRIOR to stoning them? I could only find already stoned dates and don’t want to use too many.
Yep, as mentioned in step two of the method, you de-stone them.
Thank you so much for this amazing bake. I’ve just made a gluten free version of this recipe which works well due to the density. Anyone that doesn’t like dates can be assured you cannot taste them as they are completely blended.
Amazing!! Thank you for letting me know about the GF! And yes, the dates really just enhance the flavour of the toffee!
Hi Caroline, I’m curious which flour alternative you used for the GF version? Have made the normal recipe which worked great, but now trying to adjust for my Coeliac mum! Thanks 🙂
I made this for my dad for his birthday and it turned out perfect and tasted amazing! One question is I have a bit of toffee sauce left and I was wondering how long it would stay fresh in the fridge for? Thanks x
Ah that’s amazing! I would say 5-7 days, but you can freeze it as well. Be careful when thawing to not heat it too rapidly as it may split when reheating! X
I used a mixture of raisins and sultanas with a spoonful of honey instead of the dates (due to my blender blade snapping off and shattering my Pyrex bowl whilst blending the dates, all of which had been de-stoned!) and it worked well, for those not wanting dates in the recipe!
Hi jane can you just make the sponge and freeze? Once defrost add buttercream and sauce .
Yes, you can!
I’m not a fan of dates, can I still make the recipe work without using it. Is there any other substitution. Thanks
Hey – You need to leave them in. They’re pureed so you won’t know, but they are integral to the bake! x
Hi, what could I substitute for the treacle in this recipe?
You need to use the treacle – it’s integral to the flavour and bake!
I always microwave my marg, I had no idea you shouldn’t until just now , so this mixer could be just what I need! The cake looks amazing too, we have visitors next weekend so I’ll give it a try, thanks!
Thank you! I hope you love it!! If you are melting to a complete liquid, it’s fine and I do that often – but you shouldn’t to ‘soften it’ before using for buttercream or the cake for example as the temperature in the butter can vary so much afterwards!!
Hi Jane could u make this delicious sticky toffee loaf in a bundt tin?? Maybe double the recipe for a 12 cup size? Absolutely dying to try it😍😍
I haven’t tried this as a bundt cake yet as it’s quite sticky so could stick to the bundt tin – I would also suggest a 9cup, 12 cup sounds far too big!