These tiny but mighty cakes drenched in caramel bring big sticky toffee pudding energy to the dinner table. They’re rich and dense, with a small cloud of egg whites providing just enough lift to prevent them from being stodgy, plus plenty of brown butter and walnuts to play off the cool, earthy aromas of buckwheat. Buckwheat (despite its name) is actually a robust and toasty seed that pairs particularly well with nuts and chocolate. Look for light (not dark) buckwheat flour made from hulled seeds. Our favorite is Arrowhead Mills.
Ingredients
8–10 servings
Cake
½
2
1
⅔
¼
2
1
3
⅔
Sauce and Assembly
½
½
4
1
1
2
1
Preparation
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Cake
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°. Lightly spray cups of a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Cook ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it foams, then browns, 5–8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 2 Tbsp. honey and 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract; let cool until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.
Step 2
Pulse ⅔ cup (65 g) coarsely chopped walnuts, ¼ cup (32 g) buckwheat flour, 2 Tbsp. (17 g) cornstarch, and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a food processor until nuts are very finely ground (take care not to process into a paste); transfer to a large bowl. Scrape in brown butter mixture and stir to combine.
Step 3
Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat 3 large egg whites and ⅔ cup (133 g) dark brown sugar in a medium bowl until medium peaks form, 6–8 minutes. Add one fourth of meringue to batter; mix until combined (this will lighten the batter). Add remaining meringue in 3 batches, gently folding after each addition until only a few streaks remain (err on the side of mixing less over more to keep the batter airy).
Step 4
Using a #16 cookie scoop or ¼-cup measuring cup, place a heaping scoop of batter in each prepared muffin cup (you should be able to fill about 10). Bake until tops are golden brown and cakes are beginning to pull away from sides of cups, 12–14 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cakes cool in the pan 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack; let cool completely.
Do Ahead: Cakes can be baked 1 day ahead. Store, loosely covered, at room temperature.
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Sauce and Assembly
Step 5
While cakes are baking, bring ½ cup (packed; 100 g) dark brown sugar, ½ cup heavy cream, 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces, and 1 Tbsp. honey to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 4 minutes. Boil, without stirring, 1 minute, then remove pan from heat. Stir in 1 Tbsp. whiskey (if using), 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract. Let sauce cool.
Step 6
Divide cakes among plates and top each with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Stir sauce briefly to combine, then drizzle over ice cream.
