Homemade Caramel Pudding

Homemade Caramel Pudding

I know making homemade pudding is pretty old school with all the available, decent-quality commercial puddings on the market, but there truly is a tremendous taste difference that warrants rolling up one’s sleeves every once in a while.  Here’s a version with a deep caramel flavor you can enjoy on its own or you can use in various recipes.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 ½ cups heavy cream
  • 4 Tbsps. (1/2 stick) butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • ¼ tsps. sea salt
  • 1 ½ tsps. pure vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Add the milk and cream to a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until small bubbles start to form on the surface, about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside for later use.
  2. Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the brown sugar.  Simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture caramelizes and begins to have a nutty aroma, about 5 minutes.
  3. Gradually pour the hot caramel mixture into the reserved cream mixture, whisking vigorously to fully combine. If the mixture is lumpy, pass it through a fine sieve.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add about a cup of the hot liquid to the eggs and whisk vigorously to prevent curdling.  Add the cornstarch and salt to the egg mixture and whisk to fully combine.
  5. Add the egg/cornstarch mixture to the pan with the hot liquid and cook over medium heat until the mixture is thick and just begins to boil, about 3 minutes.  Take the pan off the heat and add the vanilla extract.
  6. Ladle the pudding into decorative cups, cover with shrink wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Makes about six 4-ounce servings.

Chef Bradley Ogden Butterscotch Pudding

Chef Bradley Ogden Butterscotch Pudding

Butterscotch Pudding

Was sent master chef Bradley Ogden‘s childhood recipe for butterscotch pudding that he serves at his restaurants and absolutely loved it.  I’m typically a chocolate girl, but this pudding, that I made some tweaks to, is simply fabulous.  Chef Ogden is known to enjoy the “skin” that forms on the surface of the pudding as it sets, so I opted to recreate the recipe this way – it was the best part of the dish, good call chef!

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups heavy cream, divided
  • 1 vanilla bean, split, with seeds scraped and reserved
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp Scotch
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Boil some water in a kettle or pot and reserve for later use.
  2. Put 3 1/2 cups heavy cream and the vanilla bean and its seeds in a large, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil (watch this process as the cream can boil over quickly), take off heat and whisk in butterscotch chips until blended smoothly.
  3. Place egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk well. Slowly add hot cream mixture while whisking vigorously. Set aside.
  4. In a small, deep, heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar and water over high heat. When sugar dissolves and caramelizes, about 3 minutes, carefully add scotch and 1/2 cup cream. Continue cooking, stirring well, until mixture is smooth and slightly thick, about 3 minutes. Whisk this caramel mixture into butterscotch mixture.
  5. Strain mixture through a fine sieve. Divide among 6 (7-ounce) ramekins. Place ramekins in a large roasting pan. Place pan on oven rack, then carefully pour hot water into roasting pan, taking care not to splash into ramekins. Water should come halfway up the sides of ramekins.
  6. Carefully slide roasting pan into oven. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes until puddings are mostly set but still a wiggly. Transfer ramekins to a rack or cookie sheet to cool for about 30 minutes, then refrigerate, loosely covered with foil, overnight.
  7. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1 cup of cream with the vanilla extract until barely-stiff whipped cream is created, about 3-4 minutes.  Serve puddings with a dollop of whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings.

Notes: For the Scotch, I used what I had at home, which was Chivas that my father brought to the house last year (he’ll want to choke me when I tell him ;).  After cooling completely, the surface of the pudding will have this hardened ‘shell’ that’s amazing to ‘break’ through. If you prefer to not have this ‘shell’, simply place a sheet of shrink wrap on the surface each pudding prior to refrigerating.

Adapted from a recipe by Chef Bradley Ogden.