Silky and creamy, this caramel pudding is sure to please!
We are a household that enjoys pudding. I shudder every time we walk by the refrigerated (or shelf-stable) pudding section at the grocery store. Thinking about what kind of ingredients are in those plastic packages gives me a headache.
Thankfully, we are able to satisfy our pudding cravings here at home with homemade versions of our favorite flavors. My husband recently asked me to make some pudding for him. Butterscotch is a family favorite, as is chocolate, but I haven’t made a caramel pudding since 2014. It was time to try a new recipe.
The pudding starts off very similarly to a wet caramel, but it was difficult to tell when the sugar and water was fully caramelized (I did not use a candy thermometer). I went by feel and aroma and hopefully did ok. One thing that I did not like about this caramel pudding is that despite straining the pudding through a fine mesh sieve, I still had clumps in the pudding. I believe that the clumps were from the corn starch. Even though the clumps were small, they still annoyed me.
Regardless of the added texture, the flavor was still good. The caramel pudding was a welcome treat after a hot and humid day at school and at work.
Husband’s rating: 4 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4 out of 5
My rating: 4 out of 5
Caramel pudding
Ingredients
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 3 cups whole milk I used 1%
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon whiskey or bourbon I omitted
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and corn starch and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, water, and salt over medium heat. Continuously stir and cook over until the mixture boils and appears to be caramelized.
- Slowly drizzle in the milk (watch out for splashing) and continue to cook.
- Slowly transfer about ½ cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture and stir vigorously so the eggs don't scramble. Pour this back into the saucepan. Continue to cook until the mixture thickens.
- Turn the heat off, move the saucepan off the stove, and whisk in the vanilla and whiskey/bourbon if using.
- Strain the pudding through a fine mesh sieve so you eliminate any clumps of corn starch or any cooked eggy bits.
- Transfer the pudding into 6 ramekins or heat-proof bowls and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely, about 4 hours.
- Top with whipped cream if desired.