Can I Use Date Paste Instead Of Chopped Dates In The Sticky Toffee Pudding?

Our answer

Nigella's Sticky Toffee Pudding (from AT MY TABLE) has a moist sponge that includes soaked dates. Usually the dates melt into the sponge as it bakes and you should not get too many traces of date skin. If you have a hand blender or stick blender then it may be easier to blitz the soaked dates and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to a purée before you add them to the sponge. If you were to use date paste then it is more difficult as you don't necessarily know how much water has already been added to the dates. You would probably need to use 200g (scant 1 cup) of date paste. Add the date paste and bicarbonate of soda to the sponge batter first and then add a little water as needed to get a thick batter that drops slowly off a spoon.

If it is the Easy Sticky Toffee Pudding then the dates are not soaked, just chopped and added to the sponge. In this recipe they will dissolve less and we are not sure that date paste would be a good substitute here. You may prefer to omit the dates completely, or just add 3-4 tablespoons of date paste to the sponge. Please note that as we have not tried the recipes with date paste, we are unable to guarantee the results.