if you don't mind
Sticky toffee pudding is a warm sponge cake made with dates and black treacle, served with toffee sauce. A contemporary classic English dessert.
Created in the 1970s by Francis Coulson and Robert Lee at the Sharrow Bay Hotel on Ullswater near Pooley Bridge, in the Lake District, from a recipe given to them by Patricia Martin.
One of my regular stops in town is the Chantry in Chichester
It’s a Stonegate Pub so expect some faceless executive, lost in a back office somewhere, no one quite knows where, to change the menu in the near future.
But for now my order is for their bread & butter pudding dipping fingers.
Tt is typical of the local pubs in Chichester. Their prices are competitive and affordable. But the menu is sufficiently different to be worth a second look.
For the late risers and brunch crowd they offer the best value for money breakfast in Chichester. With two of everything. And their burgers do what burgers are supposed to do.
The Coal Exchange in Emsworth is a regular stop for a homemade Apple Crumble
A nice big plate that is drowning in cream. They also do a good Lemon Meringue and sweet sticky sponge pudding.
Traditional English desserts to round off a leisurely home cooked pub lunch. Simple wholesome food and the hospitality that keeps one coming back over and over.
bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/07/10-desserts-make-brits-america-homesick
[Edit] Has changed hands and is now a lot more cosmopolitan
Whenever I am in Southampton I make a point of stopping for a pub lunch at the Duke of Wellington.
Which invariably ends with a typically English pudding
Steamed sponge pudding, sticky sweet and swimming in fresh cream
Or the Spotted Dick served with custard.
After being told that it is the quintessentially traditional English dessert, I went in search of the Sussex Pond Pudding.
But no luck.
I scoured Google for any telltale signs of the deliciously rich sauce, which oozes out onto the plate when the pudding is cut open to serve. Nothing. Not one restaurant, I could find, that included it on their dessert menus.
Plenty of recipes though. All extolling the merits of this elusive sticky treat.
Whilst it is not the most attractive of puddings, the rich suet pastry encases a delicious filling of brown sugar and butter, with a whole lemon placed in the centre. As the pudding steams, the lemon softens flavouring the butter and brown sugar which when cut open, pools around the plate giving it, it’s name and the sticky goodness which keeps one coming back for more.
But it is not as traditional as it would first appear.
The addition of the lemon is a relatively new innovation. The original recipe was a suet crust flavoured with currants and sugar that’s rolled around a ball of sweetened butter.
[Update] I have finally found the restaurant I have been looking for. Despite the fact its and hour and a half away and damned expensive, I might just brave it out. Wonder if the Hinds Head in Bray will accept a casual diner who sticks religously to the dessert menu?
[Edit] Too late. That was the Christmas menu I stumbled across . But the Quaking pudding is still there and whilst it sounds interesting, it doesn’t really compenstate.
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/25/the-perfect-sussex-pond-pudding-felicity-cloake
It was the homemade cake that first caught my eye at Tierra Kitchen in Lyme Regis.
But that was just the beginning of a long slippery slope. Their puddings and cakes taste as good as they look.
How do you choose between passion fruit poached pear with Turkish delight ice cream and the outrageously tempting vegan and gluten free chocolate and raspberry delice?
Offering some of the best desserts in Dorset and southern England, Tierra Kitchen can be found in Lyme Regis in the cultural quarter.
