This recipe is taken directly from food blogger Deb Perelman's blog. I've used her cookbook (The Smitten Kitchen) a lot, and find that her recipes appeal to me as a home cook.
The pudding you see in the photograph was made by my friend Janice, who yearns for the butterscotch pudding her mother used to make. According to Janice, Perelman's recipe was pretty close to the real deal.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- several pinches of sea salt
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3 cups whole milk (or 2 & 1/2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup of heavy cream)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and reduce heat to medium-low. Let it heat and bubble for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Don’t let it smoke or burn, which brown sugar is always very eager to do. Reduce heat to low. Add salt and cornstarch, stirring until combined — it’s going to look like a thick paste. Switch to a whisk and add the milk in a thin drizzle, whisking the whole time, so that no lumps form. Once all of the milk is added, you can switch back to a spoon. Cook over low to medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture comes to a gentle simmer. Let it simmer for a full minute, stirring, it should clearly thicken at this stage, although it will finish thickening in the fridge. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla extract. Divide into glasses or pudding cups and let chill in fridge for 1 to 2 hours, until set.
