Sticky toffee pudding, known as sticky date pudding in Australia[1] and New Zealand, is a British[2] dessert consisting of a moist sponge cake covered in a toffee sauce, often served with a vanilla custard or vanilla ice cream.
[6] The pudding was popularised in the 1970s by Francis Coulson and Robert Lee, who developed and served it at the Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel in Cumbria.
[7][8] The food critic Simon Hopkinson said Coulson told him he received the recipe from a Patricia Martin of Claughton in Lancashire,[9] and that Martin had received it from Canadian air force officers who lodged at her hotel during the Second World War.
[9][4] It is widely served in the Lake District in northwest England, where it is a culinary symbol.
[4] A take-home version to heat, either in oven or microwave, was developed in 1989 by the owners of the Village Shop in Cartmel, Cumbria.