Make Ahead
by: fiveandspice
February22,2011
4
5 Ratings
- Serves 4
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
Well, somebody had to do it.
And, I figured, if I'm making a salted caramel pudding, I may as well go all out ridiculously rich and make it an all egg yolk thickened custard. So, here you go, this is not a pudding for the faint of heart. A salted caramel pudding, generally inspired by David Lebovitz's ice cream recipe of the same flavor. - fiveandspice —fiveandspice
Test Kitchen Notes
Fiveandspice has built a flavor explosion in pudding form. The caramel taste is immediate and long lasting. I counted: it took a full 30 seconds after I swallowed the cool, golden, silky custard for the flavor to dissipate. My only regret was that I did not double the recipe. —cheese1227
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- 2/3 cupsugar
- 1 pinch(generous) fleur de sel
- 3 tablespoonssalted butter
- 1 cupheavy cream
- 1 cupwhole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoonvanilla extract
Directions
- Spread the sugar in a heavy bottomed, fairly large (about 6 qt) sauce pan. Heat the sugar over medium until the edges start to melt, then (using something heat proof) start to stir the edges and bottom of the melting sugar in toward the middle to move unmelted sugar closer to the heat. Continue to do this until all the sugar is dissolved and then keep cooking it until it turns a dark amber and starts to smell strong and dark and almost like it’s going to burn (that burnt marshmallow smell). Remove it from the heat and stir in the butter and the salt until the butter is completely melted, then whisk in the cream.
- At this point the melted sugar will harden in response to the cream. Just return it to low heat and keep stirring it until it is all re-dissolved and blended into the cream. Then, stir in the cup of the milk.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks until they’re smooth. Then, whisk in a little (about 1/4 cup) of the warm caramel mixture. Repeat with a little more warm caramel. Then, pour this back into the pan with the rest of the caramel, stirring well, and cook this mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it has thickened enough that your stirring utensil leaves a trail and the custard can thickly coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, then press through a strainer if necessary to remove any lumps, and pour into 1 large bowl or 4 small bowls or custard cups. Press plastic wrap directly onto the custard if you wish to keep it from forming a skin. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or over night before serving. Accompany with lightly sweetened whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings.
Tags:
- Custard
- Egg
- Milk/Cream
- Make Ahead
- Winter
- Christmas
- Thanksgiving
- Dessert
Contest Entries
- Your Best Pudding
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16 Reviews
Terri August 24, 2016
I stumbled on this when I was looking for salted caramel recipes. Made it last night. It's heavenly!! Perfect blend of slightly bitter and sweet, with a lingering caramel taste. And pretty easy to make! My caramel phobias have been dispelled.
lois December 14, 2015
I was hoping this would just be okay because it took longer than I expected (plan accordingly--at least 15 minutes for step 2), but it was wonderful and I will definitely make it again. It is both sweet and rich so you don't need a lot. I doubled the recipe and had enough for ten. I served it in wine glasses with homemade biscotti.
Heidi T. March 30, 2013
I was so excited when I came across this recipe, and I just made it for myself today :D It's amazing! Thanks for the recipe. (I linked back to this page on my blog: http://aderumoro.blogspot.com/2013/03/salted-caramel-custard.html)
fiveandspice March 30, 2013
Awesome!! Love the blog post.
Sarah P. June 30, 2011
I am turning this into a pie if it's the last thing I do.
Franca June 26, 2011
One of my biggest weaknesses is salted caramel in any form. I doubled the batch and enjoyed! Great recipe. Thanks!
fiveandspice June 27, 2011
Thank you Franca! I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Salted caramel is one of my greatest weaknesses too.
Greenstuff March 14, 2011
I'm not much of a pudding person, but I've been noticing that burnt and salted caramels are flavors of our time. Now cheese1227's gorgeous photographs of fiveandspice's recipe are pulling me over the edge. Maybe I only thought I wasn't a pudding person..
fiveandspice March 14, 2011
They're definitely trendy flavors, but they're so delicious, I know I for one will not be letting them go, even after the trend passes. If you do give it a try, I'd love to hear what you think. (And, I agree. Aren't cheese1227's photos just awesome?!)
lapadia February 25, 2011
Love caramel, love the sound of this!
fiveandspice February 25, 2011
Thanks lapadia!
drbabs February 23, 2011
I made the ice cream over the summer. It was amazing. I'm sure your pudding is, too.
fiveandspice February 23, 2011
Yah! Isn't that ice cream fabulous?! Between the two of us we polished off the pint in 2 days - yikes! :)
fiveandspice February 23, 2011
And since we had friends over, this pudding was gone before I had a chance to take a pic!
hardlikearmour February 22, 2011
Love salted caramel, and this looks especially decadent.
fiveandspice February 22, 2011
Salted caramel is one of my major failings too. This is definitely a very over the top luxurious way of getting your fix.
