Recipe: Sticky Toffee-Date Cake

Makes 12 individual cakes.

Note: "When my friend Steven Brown asked me to design a dessert program for his now-famous Tilia restaurant, he had two requests: There had to be a butterscotch pudding and a sticky toffee-date cake," writes Zoë François in "Zoë Bakes Cakes" (Ten Speed Press). "I bake them in individual servings so they can be tipped out and topped with a scoop of ice cream (I use rum raisin), like a crown."

For the cake:

• 12 oz. Medjool dates (about 12 to 14 large dates)

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger

• 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for ramekins or muffin tins

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 2 eggs, at room temperature

• 2 tbsp. rum

• 2 c. (240 grams) flour

• 1 tbsp. baking powder

For the toffee sauce:

• 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

• 1 c. (200 grams) lightly packed brown sugar

• 2 tbsp. rum

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

• Ice cream, for serving (see Note)

Directions

To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter 12 (6-ounce) ramekins — or 12 muffin tins — and set on a baking sheet.

Remove pits from the dates and discard pits. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the dates and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water. Cover pan and simmer for about 5 minutes to soften dates. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for another 5 minutes until dates are tender; it may take up to an additional 5 minutes if dates are dried out.

Transfer dates and water to a blender and purée until smooth. Return the purée to the pan, return the pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, until the purée begins to sizzle, about 1 minute. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the baking soda and ginger; the mixture will foam and darken. (The baking soda neutralizes the acid in the dates and creates a rich dark color.) Let purée cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.

With the mixer on low speed, add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined. Add half of the date purée and mix to incorporate. Repeat with another one-third flour, the remaining date purée, and then finish with the final one-third flour, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix only enough to combine.

Evenly scrape the batter into the prepared ramekins (or muffin tins). Bake until the cakes are golden and a tester comes out with moist crumbs, about 30 minutes. Don't overbake; you want them to be slightly puddinglike, but the tester shouldn't be wet.

To prepare toffee sauce: While the cakes are baking, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons rum, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thicker, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

When the cakes come out of the oven, using a skewer, poke holes every 1/2 inch, through to the bottoms, and spoon two-thirds of the sauce over the tops, dividing the sauce evenly between cakes. If the sauce doesn't get completely absorbed into the cake, poke a few more holes.