Sticky toffee gingerbread

Sticky toffee gingerbread from Imperial in Portland, Ore. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times / December 21, 2012)

By Noelle Carter Los Angeles Times

12:00 p.m. EST, December 23, 2012

This week's Culinary SOS request comes from Linda Kirk in Playa del Rey:

"We recently had a fabulous dinner at Vitaly Paley's new restaurant, Imperial, in Portland, Ore. Everything was truly amazing. The crowning touch was a gingerbread sticky pudding with cold whipped cream. Is there any way the restaurant would part with the recipe? I would love to make this for our family."

It's a gingerbread lover's dream come true. Imperial's rich, dark gingerbread is fragrantly spiced with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and fresh ginger, and doused with homemade toffee sauce fresh out of the oven, making for an extra-moist cake.

Thanks, Linda! You can find the recipe below.

See more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, email me. I'll do my best to track it down.

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Imperial's sticky toffee gingerbread

Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes, plus cooling time for the cake

Servings: 12

Note: Adapted from a recipe by pastry chef Michelle Vernier at Imperial in Portland, Ore.

Toffee sauce

5 ounces (1¼ sticks) butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt