Butterscotch Pudding

Unless I am going crazy, I am definitely sure I had already published a post about my pudding adventures. I guess the technical difficulties Blogger was having sucked my post out of the Internets. But I wouldn't cross out the crazy option just yet... So, I'm sorry if you already read this post and came here thinking it was a new one. Though, I do have a few more recipes coming up due to a housemate's birthday being this weekend :)

Last week, I made pudding as the dessert for a dinner party. I wanted to move away from the usual cakes and bars that I make and picked pudding. I just thought it would look fancy schmancy, especially when served in wine glasses. I also really like challenges. Just the act of having made pudding is a win for me.



It's actually not at all difficult to make pudding. I just need more research. I would have gone for chocolate, but I was getting sick of it (we still have Easter candy to finish). Of course, I went for the flavor that involves burning sugar, even though I had no idea if I was doing it correctly. I definitely think I needed to cook it a bit longer, but it was starting to harden and I was afraid everything was going wrong, so I took it off the heat. It was a brown color, but probably not brown enough. The butterscotch flavor was very faint in the resulting pudding. You can even tell something's not right when you compare the color of my pudding and the color of Annie's pudding. I would still call this a success. I made pudding, had something to serve in the end, and people finished it!



Butterscotch Pudding [Makes 6 to 8 servings]
From Annie's Eats

- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 cups milk, divided
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- Pinch of coarse salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Whipped cream, for serving

1. In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch and ½ cup of the milk until well blended; set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining milk, butter and salt and heat, stirring frequently, until the butter is melted. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the water and sugar, stirring to moisten the sugar. Place over high heat and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Stop stirring and let the sugar mixture cook, occasionally swirling the mixture by moving the saucepan with a gentle swirling motion, until the sugar is a deep golden brown caramel. (Test a drop at a time on a white plate if you are unsure of the color in the saucepan.) The mixture will have a toasty scent.
3. Reduce the heat to low. Gradually and very carefully add the warm milk mixture into the caramel, whisking constantly. The mixture will bubble furiously. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and the caramel is completely dissolved. Gradually whisk the hot caramel into the egg mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan, set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl. Whisk in the vanilla until smooth.
4. Divide the pudding between individual serving dishes and cover with a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the pudding. Pierce the plastic with a knife a few times to allow heat to escape. Let cool until just warm, then refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Remove the plastic wrap and top with freshly whipped cream before serving, if desired.