BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING

 

• BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING 
• (YIELD: 6 SERVINGS)
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 3 cups whole milk
• ½ cup butter
• 1¾ cups dark brown sugar
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla paste, or scrapings from 1 vanilla bean
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup bourbon (more or less to taste)

PREPARATION

1. Make a slurry by whisking together eggs, cornstarch, and milk in a mixing bowl until well combined. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, and stir in the sugar. Continue stirring until the sugar is incorporated into the butter and the mixture is bubbly and shiny and looks like caramel, about 6 or 7 minutes.
5. Add the cream to the pan and keep stirring over medium heat until the sugar-butter dissolves into the cream and the color is uniform. Take about a cup of the hot cream-and-sugar mixture and whisk it slowly into the slurry. This will temper the slurry so that the eggs won’t cook into something that resembles scrambled eggs. Then add the tempered slurry into the pan and stir. Add vanilla and salt and whisk on medium-high heat until the pudding gets thick. Add bourbon if you are using it and boil for a minute or two to incorporate.
7. Pass the pudding through a fine sieve for a particularly creamy texture, although this step isn’t necessary.
9. Pour into individual ramekins or into a large shallow container. You can serve the pudding warm or chilled. If you plan to chill it, place plastic film directly on top of pudding and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. If you prefer pudding skin, leave off the plastic.