Date nut bread used to be sold in metal cans; if you haven’t had one made from scratch with fresh ingredients, you’re in for a treat! While I haven’t tried the can version, my mother-in-law says that mine is less dense and so good that you don’t really need the cream cheese.

Ingredients

The most important ingredient in this recipe is obviously the dates. It’s easiest if you buy pitted dates, but pitting whole dates is also very simple – just make a slice on either side of the date and the pit comes right out. This works with any kind of dates. I use Medjool dates.

I first discovered sticky toffee pudding many moons ago on a questionable date (the kind where you can’t tell if you’re on a date or not). My “date” insisted that I try the sticky toffee pudding at The Schlafly Tap Room, claiming that it was the very best dessert in St. Louis. The “date” ended up being a great friend, but the sticky toffee pudding became a lifelong love. At The Schlafly Tap Room, the menu description simply states that it’s a “very moist dense cake.” When sticky toffee pudding is served at The Schlafly Tap Room, it’s in a lake of the saucy goodness. It takes all possible self-control to save any for others at the table.

For my sticky toffee pudding cupcakes, I used Schlafly’s recipe and adapted it to cupcake form. I cut a hole in each cupcake and filled it with the caramel sauce, then topped each cupcake with whipped cream and more caramel.