Sticky Sticky Toffee with Lemon Peel, Raisins, Dates, and Delicious

The dessert so nice, I blog about it twice.

The last time I brought up Sticky Toffee Pudding around here was back in 2009, when Miriam (then dubbed the 'reluctant foodie,' made David Lebovitz's recipe as a guest post. Time has passed, Miriam has gone from reluctant to as obsessive as the rest of us (she owns a cake stand and hosts several-course dinners), and Rose Levy Beranbaum is bringing sticky back.

Rose's version of Sticky Toffee Pudding, that extra-Brit dessert, begins by boiling a cup of stout, adding baking soda, and pouring the whole thing over a bunch of dates. When well soaked, everything is pureed. My dates were very old, so I was worried that they would be too dried out. That turned out to be only half the problem, as I only had about 2/3 of the amount that I needed for the recipe. The pantry came to the rescue, and in addition to my dry dates I added a few tablespoons each of lemon peel, orange peel, sultanas, and zante currants. Soft and gooey and lemony.