Butterscotch Budino
Here is a recipe for an Italian butterscotch budino that I came across years ago in Nancy Silverton’s The Mozza Cookbook. Of course we Americans remember those Jello butterscotch puddings our mothers whipped up when we were kids. They seemed good enough at the time, though once you have tasted a rich and creamy homemade butterscotch budino you will discover a butterscotch pudding like none other. As a cook this is a butterscotch pudding you can rely upon to elicit oohs and aahs whenever you serve it, and reaffirms the old adage that there is indeed proof in the pudding!
Butterscotch Budino
makes 6 servings
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cups whole milk
- 2 extra large egg yolks
- 1 extra large egg
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup water
- 2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon whiskey or brandy
- 2 tablespoons slivered almonds browned in butter
Fill a large bowl with ice water and set a smaller bowl inside. Set a fine-mesh strainer in the smaller bowl.
Stir the cream and the milk together in a medium bowl and set aside.
In another medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, egg, and cornstarch together and set aside.
Combine the brown sugar, salt, and ¾ cup of water in a large heavy bottomed saucepan set over medium high heat. Cook the sugar without stirring, instead swirling the pan occasionally for even cooking. Don’t be alarmed: the sugar will become foamy and lava like with slow-bursting bubbles as it cooks. Once the sugar is caramelized, nearly smoking, nutty smelling, and dark caramel color, about 10 to 12 minutes, promptly pull the pan off the heat!
Immediately add the cream milk mixture in a thin steady stream, stirring with a whisk as you add it. This stops the cooking process and prevents the sugar from burning. This will cause the sugar to seize up and harden. Return the pan to the heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the seized sugar has dissolved and the mixture is liquid again, 5 to 7 minutes.
Turn off the heat and ladle out about one cup of the hot cream and sugar mixture and gradually add it to the bowl with the eggs, whisking constantly to prevent the cream mixture from cooking the eggs. Continue adding the cream to the eggs until you have added half the cream. Then gradually add the contents of the bowl to the saucepan with the remaining caramel, stirring constantly with a whisk, and cook the custard over medium heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not overheat the custard to avoid lumps in the custard.
Remove the custard from the heat and whisk in the butter and whiskey or brandy until combined and smooth.
If there are any lumps in the custard pas the custard through the strainer into the bowl set in the ice water.
ladle the budino into dessert bowls and set a side to cool until the custard has set. Then and decorate the centers of the budinos with the slivered almonds.
Let the budinos cool to room temperature. Then cover each bowl with cling film and refrigerate.
Serving:
Remove the budinos from the refrigerator about an hour before serving to bring them to room temperature before serving .
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