Butterscotch White Chocolate Pudding

Delicious and simple, this is butterscotch pudding with a caramelized white chocolate twist. Say what? Yep, caramelized white chocolate is a thing, and you’re going to want to try it.

I made this recipe at the request of my sister, Ashley, who has an inexplicable love of white chocolate. I generally object to white chocolate, which, for me, is too one-note sweet and weirdly soft and generally a liar. For those of you who still live under the illusion that white chocolate is chocolate: it’s cocoa butter, with no actual cocoa bean aka chocolate in it, masquerading as chocolate. But I’m definitely pro butterscotch pudding and I hold a strong belief that caramelization redeems just about anything. Plus, I love having a dessert ready made in my refrigerator that I can pull out and seem like an effortless boss.

Overall, this was pretty simple to put together. Combine brown sugar, egg yolks, alcohol, and toasty cardamom. Melt the caramelized white chocolate in some milk, enjoy the amazing smell, then combine everything and strain. Pour it into ramekins, cover and put them in a pressure cooker to steam for all of 9 minutes. The hardest part might be waiting for these to chill to eating temperature!

Although the original recipe calls for rum, we are solidly a whiskey household and rarely have rum on hand. I’m happy to report that the whiskey was a delicious substitution and I personally did not miss the added sweetness from the rum at all. I tend to be into less sweet desserts in general, so if you’re into rum, you do you.

This recipe does call for some special tools - first off, you need a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Although it’s an extra tool, it helps you avoid the need to stand over a hot stove stirring vigorously while the mixture thickens up. Next, you need to have a ramekins, espresso cups, or other heatproof bowls. This also could work with a larger heatproof bowl or soufflé dish as a family style dessert (see note below).

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Butterscotch White Chocolate Pudding

Time: 1 hour + 3 hours chilling || Servings: 6 || Source: Dinner in an Instant by Melissa Clark

• Heavy cream - 1 1/2 cups

• Whole milk - 1/2 cup

• Dulcey blond chocolate or butterscotch chips - 6 oz

• Large egg yolks - 5

• Dark brown sugar - 1/3 cup, packed

• Whiskey or rum - 2 tsp or to taste

• Cardamom or nutmeg - 1/2 tsp

• Kosher salt - 1/8 tsp

• Crème fraîche or whipped cream, for serving

• Chocolate shavings, for serving

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the cream and milk until steaming and just starting to simmer. Be careful not to overheat and scald the milk. Turn off the heat, then whisk in the blond chocolate or butterscotch chips until melted and well incorporated.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, brown sugar, whiskey or rum, cardamom or nutmeg, and salt. Pour in the chocolate cream while whisking constantly so that you don’t cook the yolks. Continue whisking until the mixture is creamy and smooth, then pour through a very fine sieve into a bowl or measuring cup with a spout.

Choose your cooking vessel. If you want individual portions, select ramekins, espresso cups, or other heatproof cups that can hold 4 to 6 ounces. Fill the vessels of your choice with custard, then cover tightly with aluminum foil. Put a steamer rack into your pressure cooker or instant pot and fill with 1 ½ cups of water.

Arrange puddings on the steamer rack; if you have six, I recommend doing them in two batches so that they’ll cook more evenly and you reduce the chances of accidents — although you could stack them in a staggered fashion if you’re more coordinated than I am.

For the first batch, cover and seal the pressure cooker and cook on low pressure for 4 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. For the second batch, cook on low pressure for 5 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually.

Once puddings are ready, remove them from the pressure cooker using oven mitts or tongs. Carefully remove the foil (be careful, there may be steam), and let the puddings come to room temperature. When cooled, cover with plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator for a minimum of three hours. Garnish with whipped cream or crème fraîche and chocolate shavings.

Notes:

If you prefer to caramelize your own white chocolate, heat the oven to 250°F. Cut white chocolate bars into cubes and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, for 30-60 minutes. When it’s caramelized, the chocolate will be the color of peanut butter. This has the upside of making your kitchen smell delicious.

If you’d prefer to have a single shareable pudding, or you don’t have enough small heat-proof cups on hand, you can use a 1-quart soufflé dish or other heatproof dish that will fit into your pressure cooker. In this case, cook on low pressure for 18 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the remaining pressure naturally. Chill and garnish as indicated.

If you would like to make this ahead, the custard will keep in the refrigerator for two days before cooking. The cooked custards will keep for up three days after cooking.

Plum Torte

As a baker, there are two things I absolutely love: 1) a recipe simple enough that I can remember it, not in small part because it makes me feel like a bonafide baker and not a hobbyist, and 2) a gorgeous end product that makes people think it took me all day to make it. Finding both of those things in a single recipe is kind of amazing.

It’s no surprise that, meeting both of these criteria, Marian Burros’s recipe for a gorgeous plum torte has been printed in the New York Times annually since 1983. It’s absolutely delicious and forgivingly versatile - any seasonal fruit will work with this beautiful batter, and you can mix up the spices or add herbs to suit your tastes and your pantry. Ms. Burros calls for an 8", 9”, or 10” pan and you don’t even have to grease it!

The most effort you have to put into this recipe is halving the plums. Look for the indent along the side of the plum, and run your knife along that until you’ve gone around the whole plum. Twist the two halves, and the plum will come apart. The pit should be in one half, flat side facing you. Wiggle a knife underneath the pit to remove it - or go crazy and use your fingers to pry it out.

I hope you can take a few minutes to make this incredibly easy classic dessert (…or breakfast?) to welcome the autumn season.

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Plum Torte

Time: 15 minutes active, 1 hour baking || Servings: 8 || Source: Marian Burros, New York Times

• Sugar - 3/4 cup

• Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup (one stick), room temperature

• All purpose flour - 1 cup

• Baking powder - 1 tsp

• Eggs - 2

• Purple plums - 24, halved and pitted

• Lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon for topping

Heat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Sift in the flour, then add baking soda, eggs, and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

Pour batter into a springform pan between 8 and 10 inches and smooth. No need to grease the pan.

Top batter with plums as densely as possible. With a 10 inch pan, I didn’t use all 24 plums (which was great, I made a second torte!). Sprinkle the top with lemon juice, sugar, and up to a teaspoon of cinnamon. If your plums are very sweet, you may want more lemon juice and less sugar; if they are tart, you may want more sugar and less lemon juice.

Bake torte for 1 hour, checking in the last ten minutes. It’s done when it’s lightly browned and the plums are jammy and sunk into the cake. Cool and remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This also freezes well; reheat at 300°F for 10-15 minutes.