Vegan Sticky Date Pudding With Caramel Sauce (2024)

The ultimate indulgent vegan sticky date pudding served with a generous drizzle of caramel sauce. This is the classic recipe you know and love just made dairy and egg free!

Sticky date pudding reminds me of when I was a kid. I’m not sure if mum made it often or if I just remember it that way because we would request it for pretty much every special occasion.

Sticky date pudding is rich, sweet and warming. It is exactly what a dessert is meant to be. This version is exactly like the sticky date pudding I grew up with but with a few simple swaps that make it dairy-free and vegan.

I love this recipe because it’s a little bit fancy and an all time crowd pleaser, but it’s actually really easy to make meaning it’s perfect for beginners wanting to try and impress with a family favorite recipe.

Ingredients for sticky date pudding

There are two components to this recipe; the pudding itself and the caramel sauce.

To make the pudding, you’ll need;

• Dates – I use regular, dried dates for this recipe. You can use medjool if you want but it’s really not necessary.
• Bicarbonate soda and boiling water – you’ll soak the dates in this mixture to soften them and help break down the dates. The reserved water will also be used in the cake to make it super soft and sticky.
• Self-raising flour – common in most Australian and UK households, however if you don’t have it, a combination of plain flour and baking powder can be used instead.
• Coconut blossom sugar – the only unusual ingredient in this recipe, coconut blossom sugar can be found at the supermarket and is a low GI, unrefined sugar with deep and rich caramel flavours making it perfect for this recipe while keeping the sweetness under control.
• Coconut oil – will ensure the cake holds together and remains nice and soft and moist.
• Vanilla – for extra flavour

For the vegan caramel sauce

This caramel is a little different to my regular caramel sauce in that we swap out some of the ingredients to use what you’ll already have on hand based on the cake ingredients.

• Coconut blossom sugar – this sugar gives the caramel a deep, rich flavour and I find it much less sweet than traditional refined white sugar.
• Canned coconut milk – quality coconut milk is essential to deliver a thick, creamy texture. You always want to use one from the can, and find one that’s not watery or full of preservatives. I love the TCC brand from Woolworths and use it for everything that calls for coconut milk.
• Coconut oil – instead of using butter for the caramel, we are replacing it with coconut oil.
• Vanilla – further rounding out the flavour of this sauce
• Salt – we don’t want this to be a salted caramel, but just a little pinch of salt will cut some of the sweetness and let us focus on the rich caramel flavour.

How to make vegan sticky date pudding

The sticky date cake is really simple to make. You’ll need a food processor or bullet blender, 2 bowls and a whisk to get started.

In a small bowl, soften the dried dates in boiling water with bicarbonate soda for 15 minutes. Whatever you do, do not throw away this water as you will need it to make the pudding.

Using the food processor or bullet blender, chop up the dates until they form a chunky paste.

In your large bowl, use a whisk to mix together the melted coconut oil, coconut blossom sugar and vanilla. Add in the chopped dates, followed by the reserved date water and the flour. Whisk together until a batter forms.

Pour the batter into a 20 cm square pan that has been lined and greased with baking paper and cooking oil spray, and bake in a moderate oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a skewer when inserted comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking, make your caramel by adding all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and boil until a thick caramel forms. You need to make sure you are watching and whisking this occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn or boil over. For this reason, make sure your saucepan has nice tall sides.

The caramel will continue to thicken as it cools.

Like most puddings, this is best served straight away while everything is still warm. Slice the cake into squares and drizzle with a very generous amount of the caramel sauce. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and let it melt into the caramel as well if you’re feeling super indulgent.

How to store the pudding

You can make the cake and caramel in advance if you like. The cake portion will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days, and you can freeze it for up to 3 months by wrapping it in plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out.

To defrost, leave it in the fridge or on the kitchen counter overnight.

Warm up your slices in the microwave for a few seconds for that freshly baked feeling!

For the caramel, it will store in the fridge for about a week however it will get super thick. To use, simply warm up the carmel by putting the container in a bowl of warm water until the caramel reaches drizzly consistency. I don’t recommend freezing the caramel.

This vegan sticky date pudding is sweet, soft, and super rich which is exactly what a sticky date pudding should be! As an added bonus this recipe is so easy to make so I am sure this dessert will become a regular crowd pleaser at your house.

You definitely don’t need to be vegan to appreciate how delicious this pudding actually is, but it’s great to finally have a recipe that allows non-dairy eaters to indulge in a little (ok, a lot) of caramel.

More vegan dessert recipes:

Vegan Caramel Cake
Mini Vegan Chocolate Cake
Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
Vegan Brownies
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Homemade Tim Tams (Vegan)
Vegan Caramel Slice

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