Salted Caramel Pudding or Butterscotch Pudding Recipe

My daughter Hannah came for a visit the other night and was hungry for Butterscotch pudding. I of course had every flavor of boxed pudding except that one so I got on the internet and looked at dozens of recipes and took the three I liked best and combined them into this one. It is the perfect combination of salty and sweet and buttery caramel butterscotch flavors. It tastes like salted caramels. Start to finish in under 15 mins. Hannah was thrilled but is sad that I've ruined her for boxed pudding. It's scary to think that we came so close to settling for a box and never discovering this amazing pudding!

  Hannah's Butterscotch Pudding

• 3 1/2 cups milk- 1%, whole or what ever you’ve got (For a richer pudding use 2 1/2 cups milk and 1 cup cream
• 1 stick butter
• 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar packed
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

·      Separate 3 eggs and put the 3 egg yolks into a medium bowl. Set aside.

·      Stir 1/2 cup cold milk with 1/3  cup corn starch until a smooth paste. Set aside.

·      In a microwavable container, add 3 cups milk (or cream and milk mixture) and Microwave for 2-4 minutes until skim forms on top and milk is hot.  Remove and set aside.

·      In a large, heavy saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the brown sugar, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook 3 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly, to caramelize the mixture. You'll smell a characteristic nutty-caramel odor when the butter browns, signaling that the mixture is ready. Turn heat down to medium.

·      Immediately, gradually add the hot milk into the butter/brown sugar mixture stirring constantly.

·       Take the egg yolks and whisk in about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture. Whisk in the cornstarch paste and salt until dissolved. Whisk the cornstarch/ egg yolk mixture back into the hot mixture in the saucepan. Whisking constantly, cook over medium-high heat until pudding is thick and just boiling. You will know that it’s done and  thick enough when the spoon leaves trail marks on the bottom of the pot and the mixture will have a few large bubbles boiling up to the top.

·      Turn off the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour into one bowl or 6 to 8 ramekins, or mugs and  press waxed paper over the top to prevent a skin from forming. Serve warm or chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Warm or cold it's delicious.I had it with a small dollop of whipped cream. I think I'm going to put some chocolate shavings on it next!