Sticky toffee pudding: how much it costs to make, per portion
A tray of date sponge and a pan of toffee sauce, twelve portions, costed from pack prices dated 7 September 2026. The pudding almost every pub sells and almost nobody costs.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample pub menu, a realistic UK menu price (also on the restaurant menu £7.96). The lowest price is the one that just reaches 68% GP, the UK food GP benchmark (UKHospitality × Christie & Co, 2022: 65.9–69% food GP across every segment). It covers the ingredients at a normal margin, not staff, rent or energy, and most cafés, pubs and takeaways charge more for simple dishes. Check what places near you charge. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.
Open in ChefSums — edit, cost, scale →
Ingredients and cost, 12 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medjool dates | £28.49 | 5000 g | 400 g | £2.28 |
| Bicarbonate of soda | £1.99 | 1000 g | 8 g | £0.02 |
| Unsalted butter | £31.99 | 5000 g | 350 g | £2.24 |
| Light brown soft sugar | £3.75 | 1000 g | 350 g | £1.31 |
| Dark muscovado sugar | £7.38 | 1000 g | 150 g | £1.11 |
| Eggs (medium) | £3.49 | 30 each | 4 each | £0.47 |
| Self-raising flour | £1.79 | 1500 g | 300 g | £0.36 |
| Black treacle | £1.75 | 454 g | 40 g | £0.15 |
| Vanilla extract | £4.45 | 95 ml | 10 ml | £0.47 |
| Double cream | £3.79 | 1000 ml | 500 ml | £1.90 |
| Golden syrup | £17.99 | 7260 g | 50 g | £0.12 |
| Batch total | £10.42 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 12) | £0.87 | |||
Cost per line is pack price × (amount used ÷ pack size), the same sum the tool runs. Change one pack price and every line that uses it moves.
What it really costs: waste and staff time
| Ingredients | £0.87 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.04 |
| Staff time: 30 min hands-on for the batch of 12 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.66 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £1.57 |
At the sample pub menu price (£6.25 ex VAT) that is 25% of the price, before rent, energy and everything else. Many UK sites aim to keep food plus staff (prime cost) at or under 60–65% of sales. The staff line counts hands-on prep only, not unattended cooking, and uses the April 2026 National Living Wage; put your own rate, minutes and waste in the calculator's real cost section or the prime cost calculator. Every dish side by side: the UK dish cost index.
Method
- Stone and chop the dates, cover with 400 ml boiling water, add the bicarbonate and leave 10 minutes; blend roughly.
- Cream 100 g of the butter with the light brown sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time, then the treacle and vanilla.
- Fold in the flour, then the date mixture. Pour into a lined tray and bake at 180 °C (355 °F) for 30-35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
- Sauce: melt the remaining butter with the muscovado, golden syrup and cream; simmer 3 minutes until glossy.
- Portion the sponge, soak with half the sauce, and serve hot with the rest over. Cream or ice cream to serve is not costed.
Costing notes
Under a pound a portion for ingredients: this is the highest-margin plate on most pub menus. Butter and cream are two-fifths of the cost, so a dairy price rise shows here first. Dates are costed from a 5 kg wholesale case; a 250 g retail pack roughly doubles that line. Ice cream, cream or custard to serve is not included: add a row.
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 7 September 2026 (delivery prices run about £1-2 a case higher). The site does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while oil, vanilla and alcohol carry standard-rate VAT. Where JJ had no line that day, a Tesco retail price is used and marked. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Medjool dates: Medjool Dates 1x5kg (FRU136), 5 kg, £28.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Bicarbonate of soda: JJ Signature Bicarbonate of Soda 1x1kg (SPI797), 1 kg, £1.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Unsalted butter: Lakeland Unsalted Butter 20x250g (DAI186), 20 x 250 g, £31.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Light brown soft sugar: Tesco Light Brown Soft Sugar 1kg, 1 kg, £3.75 — Tesco (retail), accessed 2026-09-07
- Dark muscovado sugar: Dark Muscovado Sugar 1kg (Tesco Marketplace), 1 kg, £7.38 — Tesco (retail), accessed 2026-09-07
- Eggs (medium): Medium Eggs Size 3 1x30 (EGG024), 30, £3.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Self-raising flour: Wright's Self Raising Flour 1x1.5kg, 1.5 kg, £1.79 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Black treacle: Lyle's Black Treacle 454g, 454 g, £1.75 — Tesco (retail), accessed 2026-09-07
- Vanilla extract: Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract 95ml, 95 ml, £4.45 — Tesco (retail), accessed 2026-09-07
- Double cream: Meadowland Double Cream 1x1L (CRE039), 1 L, £3.79 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Golden syrup: Lyle's Golden Syrup 1x7.26kg (ICE053), 7.26 kg, £17.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
More costed dishes: pub and restaurant classics
- Roast tomato soup — £1.19 a portion
- Sweet chilli sauce — £0.16 a portion
- Roast beef dinner — £3.45 a portion
- Sausage and mash with onion gravy — £1.60 a portion