1 Ingredients needed for making your own pudding.
2 Cornstarch, granulated sugar, and salt are added to the saucepan.
3 For classic chocolate pudding, add 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt in the saucepan.
4 We made the butterscotch pudding in studio and used this dark-brown sugar sent to us by Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo.
5 For butterscotch pudding, replace the granulated sugar with 1/2 cup of packed dark-brown sugar, and add that to the cornstarch and salt in your saucepan.
6 Combine heavy cream with whole milk in a medium-sized bowl.
7 Add two egg yolks to the milk and cream in the bowl.
8 Whisk together egg yolks, milk, and cream before adding to the dry ingredients in the saucepan.
9 Whisk together the wet and dry ingredients over medium-high heat.
10 After about 8 minutes the mixture thickens up to "pudding" consistency.
11 Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve or strainer into a heat proof bowl.
12 Mix in butter and vanilla extract, until well blended.
13 For the both the butterscotch and chocolate puddings reduce the vanilla extract to 1/2 a teaspoon, when stirring in with butter, after straining.
14 Classic Vanilla Pudding covered with plastic wrap directly against the pudding.
15 Classic Vanilla Pudding
16 Classic Chocolate Pudding
17 Classic Butterscotch Pudding
Inspired by the "Make It Your Own" pudding section in the current issue of Everyday Food Magazine, we decided to give it a go in the studio. Sure, boxed mixes are easy, but so is this homemade version-and is it ever good. Thick, creamy, and velvety smooth. Chances are you've got all the ingredients at home already. Eight to twelve minutes at the stove and a cooling off period and that's it (unless you're like me and you can't resist just digging into the pot and eating the pudding while it's still warm).
Classic vanilla, chocolate, lemon, coffee, butterscotch-take your pick; they're all there! To whet your appetite, here's the recipe for Classic Vanilla Pudding:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium heatproof bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, and egg yolks; add to saucepan.
2. Whisking constantly, cook over medium-high until mixture thickens and is bubbling, 8 to 12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking, 1 minute.
3. Remove pan from heat and pour mixture through sieve into bowl. Stir in butter and vanilla until combined.
4. Press plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding to prevent skin from forming and refrigerate 3 hours (or up to 3 days). To serve, whisk until smooth and divide among 4 small bowls.
