This date cakes is incredibly soft and moist, perfectly sweetened with dates and infused with the warmth of cinnamon and nutmeg. This vegan sticky toffee pudding is the perfect cake to enjoy all year round and the perfect centerpiece for any celebration.

This was inspired by my Cinnamon and Apple Cake, and pairs well with my super simple 3 ingredient caramel recipe.
This sticky toffee pudding dates is also dairy free, using dairy free spread and milk in place of ordinary butter or margarine and ordinary cows milk. If you'd prefer not to make it dairy free just substitute them:)
In this recipe for sticky date cake I will be going through how to make this the best sticky toffee pudding and answering your FAQs such as ‘how to make - sticky toffee pudding eggless' ‘how to decorate sticky toffee pudding ’ ‘how long does date cake last’ and so much more.

A really great thing about this date vegan cake is how versatile it is. Which is what makes this cake dates best. For example, you can make this into a chocolate and caramel bundt cake or a dates in sticky toffee pudding - decorated it with a chocolate ganache drip instead!
I’ll also be sharing some more flavor variations and mix in’s below. And would highly recommend you check that part of this post out!
This sticky toffee pudding dairy free requires less than an hour to come together from start to finish!
If you’re looking for more gluten free cake recipes to add to your baking list check out my blueberry and apple crumble recipe and chocolate crepe cake
Run To
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- Substitutions
- Variations
- Equipment
- Storage - Date Cakes
- Top tip - Date Cakes
- Baking Free From 101
- FAQ - Date Cakes
- Date Cakes
- Trending Posts
- The Ultimate Vegan Cheesecake - Easy Vegan Biscoff Cheesecake
- Biscoff Cream Cake: A Quick and Easy Vegan Dessert
- Best Easy Vegan Chocolate Biscuit Dessert
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake
Ingredients
- Gluten Free Plain Flour – paired with a teaspoon of xanthan gum to give more stability to the cake to prevent it from crumbling. However, if you’d prefer not to make these gluten-free simply substitute the gluten-free flour for normal plain flour. There’s also no need to add xanthan gum. As the gluten in the normal flour will prevent the cake from crumbling.
- Dairy Free Butter – This can be in spread or block form.
- Caster sugar – I like to use caster sugar in my cakes which is just very refined sugar. So if you can’t find caster sugar I’d recommend using very refined granulated sugar.
- Brown sugar - The added molasses in brown sugar helps make the cake slightly fudgy and provide that caramel color to the sponge.
- Dates - The key ingredient to sticky toffee pudding and makes it perfectly moist and sweet.
- Bananas - This is our egg substitute and is what makes the cake so soft. If you’re worried about tasting the banana you can substitute it for dairy free yogurt or applesauce.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°/365°F and grease and flour your bundt tin and set aside.
- Heat together the dates and water in a pan and bring to a boil.

3. In the meantime begin by creaming together the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes.

4. Once the dates have come to a boil, allow to cool, before blending into a puree, and add to the butter mixture. Mix until combined

5. Mash/blend the bananas into a puree and add to the butter. Then add the dry ingredients and mix in.

6. Bake for 45-60 mins. The cake should be golden in color and springy to the touch.
- Once baked, allow the cake to cool. Turn the bundt cake out and drizzle on the caramel. All that's left now is to enjoy!

Substitutions
If you’d prefer not to make this cake specific to a dietary requirement or two, simply substitute the ingredients that correlate to your needs to make this english sticky toffee pudding suitable for your diet.
- Gluten free - If you’d prefer not to make this gluten-free simply substitute the gluten-free flour for normal plain flour. There’s also no need to add xanthan gum. As the gluten in the normal flour will prevent the cake from crumbling.
- Vegan - If you’d prefer not to make this cake vegan simply substitute the dairy free butter for ordinary butter, this can be a spread or block butter at room temp. You may also substitute the banana for 3 medium size eggs.
- Dairy free - If you’d prefer not to make this cake vegan simply substitute the dairy free butter for ordinary butter, this can be a spread or block butter at room temp.
Even if you don’t follow a specific diet (eg. gluten free), you may have friends or family that could use this.
Variations
Simple ways you can change this recipe to better suit your dinner guests:
Classic date cake
To make this cake, you will keep to this same date cakes but without the addition of the sauce for sticky toffee pudding. Instead you can decorate this cake with a simple vegan chocolate ganache or royal icing!
To make this date cakes more healthy
To make this recipe for vegan sticky toffee pudding healthy, substitute the sugar for coconut sugar. You can also make this.. without butter by simply substituting the dairy free butter for 200 ml of olive oil. Although these alternatives aren’t 100% healthier as they are still processed, they do have more health benefits then their counterparts.
Let me know in the comments if you try these variations or if you came up with your own!
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.
For this recipe you’ll need a bundt tin, this is the one I use and I use it all the time, my cake has never stuck once. You may also use a circle or loaf tin to bake this cake if you’d prefer. But for all tins, make sure to properly grease it! You might want to check out my foolproof guide here - How to grease and flour any cake tin.
Storage - Date Cakes
Storing and freezing the gluten free date cake
How long does vegan gluten free date cake last?
They stay good at room-temperature for up to 2 days, in the fridge for up to a week, and in the freezer for up to 2 months if stored in an airtight container.

Top tip - Date Cakes
Although this date cake eggless recipe is super simple to make, here are just a few expert tips I'd recommend:
When heating the dates, make sure they have been washed and pitted before adding the water to boil, to remove all the dirt.
Use a food processor or blender to blend the dates into a puree, this will help prevent any chunks of dates getting into the batter - You may also want to do the same for the banana.
Due to the size of this cake, it takes a lot longer to bake, so it’s best to bake it low and slow to prevent it from browning too much. Check out the temp on the recipe card below.
Master the art of baking GF, DF & Vegan
Baking Free From 101
FAQ - Date Cakes
Is sticky toffee pudding vegan?
Not traditionally as it contains eggs, but this cake is! Check out the substitutes sections above if you’d also prefer not to make this cake vegan.
Can you make this into a - Recipe for sticky toffee pudding without dates?
This is a common question, and I understand some people may not have dates laying around in the pantry but might still be craving it. But fir this recipe it does require dates, but you could try Searching for spice’s no dates sticky toffee pudding sticky-toffee-pudding it’s not vegan, but you can check out my butter substitutes list to make it dairy free!
Make sure to tag me@whiskmefree on Instagram and leave a review below if you made this date cakes. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Date Cakes

Equipment
- Bundt tin
Ingredients
- 225 g Plant based/ dairy free butter
- 200 g Sugar
- 150 g Brown sugar
- 340 g Pitted dates
- 2 cups Water
- 180 g Bananas
- 360 g Gluten free Plain flour
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon All spice
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°/365°F and grease and flour your bundt tin and set aside.
- Heat together the dates and water in a pan and bring to a boil.
- In the meantime begin by creaming together the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes.
- Once the dates have come to a boil allow to cool, before blending into a puree.
- Mash/blend the bananas into a puree and add to the butter mixture, along with the date puree. Mix until combined
- Then add the dry ingredients and mix in. Once combined, pour the batter into the prepared bundt tin, and bake for 45-60 mins. The cake should be golden in colour and springy to the touch.
- Once baked, allow the cake to cool. Turn the bundt cake out and drizzle on the caramel. All that's left now is to enjoy!
*This blog post may contain affiliate links. Product mentions do not imply endorsement. Please read my disclaimer on my privacy policy page for more information.
© Leena. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Fransic verso says
This look so yummy and something I can try with my partner. The ingredients are easy to get them as well.