Sticky prune teacakes or puddings

Sticky prune teacakes or puddings

• 17 Aug 2025

Even though the biscuit tin was empty, I decided I wanted to eat cake rather than a cookie. During my search, this recipe for sticky prune cakes by Edd Kimber's from his book Small Batch Bakes, popped up and with all the ingredients in my pantry I decided to make a batch.

The recipe is a riff on a sticky toffee pudding so if you don't have any prunes in the house, I'm sure you could use dates or even dried figs. 

As it's winter here and I was in the mood for a warm dessert, I heated up the sticky prune teacakes and served them as a pudding with stewed apple and butterscotch sauce and they were delicious!

Here's the recipe for you which makes 6 small cakes or puddings. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20-ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Sticky prune teacakes

Ingredients
40g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
115g ready-to-eat prunes, halved
150ml brewed black tea (I like earl grey)
75g light brown sugar
1 tbsp black treacle
1 large egg
75g rye flour
25g plain flour
¼ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb soda
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Butterscotch Sauce - if making puddings

Ingredients

45g unsalted butter

¾  cup brown sugar

¾ cup cream

1 tbs pure maple syrup

pinch sea salt flakes

Method
Heat the oven to 180°C, conventional, and lightly grease a six-hole muffin tray.

Put the prunes into a small saucepan, pour in the hot tea and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering on a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almost all the liquid has been absorbed by the fruit.

Meanwhile, put the butter, sugar and treacle in a bowl and beat for about five minutes, until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg until fully combined. In another bowl, whisk the flours, salt and baking powder, then add to the butter mixture and mix briefly just to combine.

Take the pan of prunes off the heat, add the bicarb and stir just until it starts to foam. Set the mixture aside to cool for 5 minutes, then add to the batter and mix briefly until combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tray, sprinkle liberally with demerara sugar, then bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cakes spring back to a light touch. Remove and leave to cool for five minutes, then carefully turn out and put on a wire rack to cool completely. The cakes will keep in a sealed container for at least four days.

If you like, you can serve these warm as a pudding with stewed fruit and butterscotch sauce.

Butterscotch Sauce

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, stir, then bring to a simmer. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes, until thickened, then remove from heat. Serve warm.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian