This started out as butterscotch pudding, but we’re not scotch drinkers, so I switched the scotch with rum, and baptized it with a new name. And I dare say, it was a match made in heaven. My husband’s mother used to make butterscotch pie all the time, so this dessert brings back special memories in our home, while allowing me the luxury of skipping the whole pastry making fandango and going directly to the sweet spot – the pudding itself.
You can never go wrong when you start with a fresh vanilla bean for your homemade pudding or ice cream.
I quite love butterscotch pie, even though I wasn’t raised on it, but the idea of making pastry from scratch seems too time consuming on most days, when there are a thousand other to-do’s on my never ending list of things I need to tackle from morning until night. So, I figured that I could replicate the taste memory of the pie by putting together a quick pudding dessert with the same flavour base. It worked.
Brown sugar. It makes everything better. Even bacon. Which reminds me, I’ve got to make some caramelized bacon soon…
It took me a long time to find the right recipe, and after reviewing many, I’ve developed my own, using the much darker brown Demerara sugar for a deeper butterscotch flavour, and my favourite rum in place of the scotch, though, honestly, this pudding can be made easily without the boozy addition and it will still taste like heaven. A whole vanilla bean ups the ante on looks and taste, and the brown sugar really comes through in this dessert, with a rich caramel finish amidst soft creamy clouds of sweetness. This particular recipe has been adapted from Tyler Florence’s fantastic Family Meal book, and is easy to make. The only thing you need to consider is time, because the puddings will need to rest for at least a few hours in the fridge before you can serve them. There is something strangely odd tasting about them when they’re being poured hot out of the pan, but a mandated beauty sleep in the cold recess of your fridge seems to magically transform the starchy unsophisticated blandness into voluminous mounds of velvety caramel goodness.
Make sure you cover these beauties with some cling film before letting them rest in the fridge, if you don’t want a skin forming on the surface.
Since you’re not making pastry, you have time to whip a bit of cream, now don’t you? I love topping my puddings with some freshly whipped cream, and a grinding of fresh nutmeg. The cream mixed in with the pudding makes it so much lighter and provides you with a pretty delightful mouth feel while eating it, and it also has the dual purpose of covering the rather unsightly top of your puddings, which will have wrinkled under the cling film that covered them to avoid a skin from forming on top of them. In my house, skin on a pudding is an unwanted thing, and a definite no-no, though I do know some folks who love it. It’s up to you to decide what you prefer…
Rum, sugar, cream. Go on, treat yourself. You deserve it, don’t you?
Feel free to omit the alcohol in these puddings if you wish.
The longer these puddings set in the fridge, the better, so don't be afraid to make them early in the morning for that day's supper, and these taste fantastic even a few days after being made. At a minimum, they will need at least 3 hours in the fridge to get cold, but if you can leave them for 4 to 6 hours, even better.
This recipe is adapted from Tyler Florence's Family Meal cookbook.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 vanilla bean, split in half, seeds scraped from the bean
- 1 cup firmly packed Demerara sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup milk (I use 1%)
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups 5% cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp dark rum
- Freshly whipped cream (optional)
- Nutmeg (optional)
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter, and add the seeds from the vanilla bean, and the brown sugar. Simmer until dissolved, and remove the pan from the heat. (You can save the split and scraped vanilla bean, and use it to make some home made vanilla extract, or throw it in your sugar container to make some vanilla sugar).
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cornstarch with ½ cup of the milk. Add the eggs, and whisk until well combined.
- Slowly pour in the remaining milk and cream into the saucepan, over medium high heat, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture, and whisk constantly. Once the mixture starts to bubble, reduce heat to low, and cook a few minutes more, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat, and add salt and rum. Pour into 6 ramekins, or in a serving bowl.
- Cover puddings with cling film (Saran or plastic wrap), by placing it directly over the pudding mixture itself, in order to prevent a skin from forming on your puds. (I know some folks think this is the best part, but I’m firmly in the camp of no skin on my pudding. I prefer a uniform consistency when eating this.)
- Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 3 hours or until they get fridge cold. You want those brown sugar flavours to develop properly.
- Top with a dollop of freshly whipped cream, and a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg, if desired.
Reminds me of the butterscotch pie I used to make in the 80’s. Too bad back then I only used vanilla extract, the vanilla bean is by far so much better. I think this will be dessert on Saturday night.
So far, I have the side: artichokes, the dessert: butterscotch pudding, just need the main course!!! Don’t worry, I have the apps: frog legs!!
Great menu! I think you couldn’t go wrong with my roast chicken for the main, or a pork loin roast…