Food: Bourbon Butterscotch Pudding
Have you ever made a beautiful dessert and found that after having a fantastic dinner, you look at that dessert and think…I. Just. Can't. Do. It. We’ve all been there. Why do we do it? Well that's an entirely different conversation that we can have over a whiskey someday, but for today, I have something so light and creamy, you won't be able to resist it. It’ll sort of fill in all those little nooks and crannies in your full belly and satisfy that sweet tooth.
Everyone loves pudding! And it's so easy to make from scratch. It really is. The ingredients are easy to find, some of them are likely in your pantry or fridge and most definitely in your liquor cabinet!!
This velvety pudding is the perfect dessert, one that will leave you feeling content without making you feel like you’ve gone over the top. I love that the topping variations are endless and you can take a simple dessert and impress the hell out of your guests. For today, I added some graham crumbs, but by all means, get creative. Explore different combinations! Make each one different and let your guests choose. I'd love to hear what you did with your pudding.
Bourbon Butterscotch Pudding
Ingredients:Makes 6-8 servings
¼ unsalted butter
¾ cup of packed brown sugar
2.5 cups of heavy cream (or half and half)
1 cup of whole milk
2 tbsp of bourbon + 2 oz
½ tsp salt (table or kosher)
6 egg yolks
¼ cup of cornstarch
3 tbsp of white sugar
Method:
1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat until it becomes golden brown, swirling the pan from time to time. This takes a couple of minutes.
2. Add the brown sugar and cook, stirring until sugar starts to dissolve. This also takes a couple of minutes.
3. Add cream, milk, 2 tbsp bourbon and salt and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, (big enough to hold the eggs AND cream mixture) whisk together the yolks, cornstarch and white sugar until smooth.
5. Now the fun part. It’s a good workout if you are doing this by hand. Don’t stop and go slowly!
6. Very slowly, add the hot mixture into the egg yolks, whisking the entire time.
7. If your saucepan has sticky bits in, wipe it out. Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring often. It will start to bubble and thicken – this takes about 5-7minutes.
8. Some pudding recipes call for you to place in a blender, but this recipe was quite smooth and why get your blender messy?
9. Pour or spoon into bowls or glasses – whatever you like. Chill for 3-4 hours.
10. Best part? (aside from licking the spoon) this can be made up to 3 days in advance. Just cover with plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge. Designate one bowl that you can take spoonfuls out of every so often. You are simply testing the pudding, right?
Now here’s the fun part. If you are entertaining and serving this for dessert, you can get as fancy as you like. I topped mine with some graham crumbs, but you could use graham crumb layers, or top with shaved chocolate, or fresh raspberries (add the berries just before serving) or whipping cream. You can add slices of bananas to the dishes before you fill them with your beautiful pudding. If you are topping them, you can prep the topping in advance and finish them just before serving. It really makes an elegant dessert.
Oh…you thought I forgot about the other 2oz of bourbon? Never. Once these are chilled, pour that bourbon into your best glass and enjoy it with your Bourbon Butterscotch Pudding. Pudding never tasted so good!!
Cheers!
maureen Linehan