For the holidays, we wanted a dessert that was complex and balanced. We started with Britain’s sticky toffee pudding—a steamed, too-often bland dessert hidden under a gluey, cloying syrup—and employed a bit of reverse-engineering, starting with the sauce. Instead of the traditional cream, we gave the toffee glaze a taste from home by spiking it with rye whiskey. For the cake itself, we wanted to mirror the flavor of the rye, so we used a blend of rye and all-purpose flours. Dates steeped in coffee, then pureed, gave body. Together, the nutty rye and bitter coffee balanced the cake’s sweetness.
MILK STREET HOLIDAYS
Rye whiskey and rye flour boost the flavor in the classic British dessert