Prune Kumquat Sticky Pudding With Armagnac Toffee Sauce Recipes

PRUNE KUMQUAT STICKY PUDDING WITH ARMAGNAC TOFFEE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F and generously butter an 11-cup Kugelhopf pan (see note, above) or 11-cup bundt pan.
• Halve prunes and in a small saucepan simmer with Armagnac and 3/4 cup water, uncovered, 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer prunes to a shallow dish to cool. Boil Armagnac mixture until reduced to about 1/2 cup and add to prunes.
• Halve kumquats lengthwise and thinly slice crosswise. In a small saucepan bring remaining 1/2 cup water with 1/4 cup granulated sugar to a simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add kumquats and simmer 10 minutes. In a fine sieve drain kumquats and add to prunes.
• Into a bowl sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, allspice, and salt. Resift mixture into another bowl.
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter, remaining 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture and prune mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating until just combined.
• Spoon batter into pan (pan will be almost full) and bake in middle of oven 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a rack 10 minutes and turn out onto rack to cool completely. Cake keeps, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature 1 week.
• Garnish cake with kumquats and serve with warm toffee sauce and ice cream.

ARMAGNAC TOFFEE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a heavy saucepan simmer cream with butter and brown sugar, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Remove pan from heat and stir in Armagnac. Sauce keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week. Reheat sauce before serving.

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING WITH TOFFEE SAUCE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Place dates in a bowl, pour coffee over dates, and let soak 15 minutes. Stir in baking soda.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and beat in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated.
• Reduce speed to low, and add half the flour mixture, beating until combined. Add date mixture and remaining flour mixture, and beat until just combined. (Do not overmix.) Transfer batter to dish, and bake until cake is puffed and springs back in center when gently pressed with a finger, about 25 minutes.
• Sauce: Meanwhile, combine butter, sugar, and cream in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium (so sauce does not boil over) and boil, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and darkens slightly, about 4 minutes.
• Remove cake from oven and pierce holes at 1-inch intervals to bottom of cake with a wooden skewer. Pour half of hot sauce over cake and let soak 20 minutes. Serve warm with remaining sauce. Cake soaked in sauce and remaining toffee sauce can be stored at room temperature up to 1 day. Before serving, warm cake in a 300 degrees oven 10 minutes, and sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat.

TOFFEE SAUCE FOR TOFFEE KUMQUAT PUDDING

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat bring the ingredients to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until just slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

ARMAGNAC ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Have ready a large bowl of ice and cold water. In a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan simmer 1/2 cup Armagnac (being careful not to let ignite) until reduced by about half. Stir in cream and milk and bring mixture to a simmer.
• In a bowl whisk together yolks and sugar. Add hot milk mixture to yolk mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Transfer mixture to cleaned saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until slightly thickened and a thermometer registers 170°F (do not let boil). Pour custard through a fine sieve into a metal bowl set in ice water. Stir in remaining tablespoon Armagnac and cool custard completely.
• Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Armagnac ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.