• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Joy the Baker
Joy the Baker
  • Cookies
  • Bread
  • Cakes
  • Pies
  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Cookies
    • Birthday Cake Recipes
    • Biscuits
    • Muffins
    • Cupcakes
    • Drinks
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Fruit
    • Nuts
    • Buttermilk
    • Chocolate
    • Vanilla
    • Holiday
    • Healthy
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegan
  • Blog
    • Baking 101
    • Tips
    • Beyond the Kitchen
    • Let It Be Sunday!
    • New Orleans
  • Shop
Watch VideoRead CommentsLeave a Review

Deb’s Caramel Pudding

April 22, 2010 by Joy the Baker 102 Comments

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

I love when my kitchen is full of hot sugar and warm milk that turns into caramel pudding.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

I love when my kitchen is full of new friends (see Jill, above) who aren’t shy about going in for a giant dollop of whipped cream on their caramel pudding.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

My new friend Jill, from The Dish’s Dish is absolutely obsessed with caramel pudding.  Browned and nutty cooked sugar meets whole milk and sea salt and whipped cream?  Yes.  Definitely obsession worthy.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

I invited Jill over.  I organized the simple ingredients in pretty bowls mostly so I could trick my new friend into thinking I’m super profesh… and…

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

we started cooking sugar.  If you’ve got a new friend in the kitchen, might I suggest that you cook some sugar together?  It’ll really set a happy tone for the rest of your friendship.  Seriously.   Bond over scalding hot sugar.  It’s the best.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

While the sugar cooked and browned, Jill and I patiently waited, and chatted about our mutual obsession with Mt Everest books and shows, laughed at how strange we are,  and took pictures of the stove.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

Once we whisked the cold milk into the hot sugar things got a little chunky… and tense.  Our budding friendship was put to the test.  Would the clumped up caramel dissolve?  Would the milk not curdle?  Oooh goodness.  Jill whisked.  I nervously took pictures of the electrical socket.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

It worked.  Everything worked.  Friendship in tact.  Pudding ready to be strained.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

Individually wrapped caramel pudding ready to chill.  We licked the spatula.  We licked the bowl . It was totally the right thing to do.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

Ooh!  I forgot to mention Jill’s awesome boyfriend Taylor.  He’s a dearheart.  He filmed our caramel pudding making shenanigans.  Thaaaat’s right!  A little video called Bake Out with Jill and Joy…. coming soon.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

But first… let’s just concentrate on the pudding…

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

and the whipped cream and sea salt that are about to top that pudding.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

and my Mom who couldn’t resist a bowl.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

and my new friend Jill who, come to find out, eats whipped cream and frozen M&Ms like… every night.   Let’s just concentrate on those things while our little video is in the editing shop.

Deb's Caramel Pudding with Jill

Just look at these two.  Too beautiful to be true… but they are… true.  It’s crazy.

Jill.  Taylor.  We’ve made caramel pudding.  We have the video to prove it.  We’re friends for life… or at last our bellies are.  I’m totally coming over for whipped cream and frozen M&Ms.  Trust that.

Stay tuned for Bake Out with Jill and Joy.  Coming soon to… you.

Deb’s Caramel Pudding

from Smitten Kitchen

serves 8 small servings or 4 caramel pudding lover servings

Print this Recipe!

Sweet.  Smooth.  Will force you to forget about boring old chocolate or vanilla pudding for the rest of your days.  Topped with coarse sea salt and whipped cream… you might think you’re Sherry Yard and your kitchen is Spago.  You’re not Sherry Yard and your kitchen is not Spago… but for a moment… ooh yes… it will be.

4 cups whole milk

6 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

coarse sea salt and whipped cream for topping

In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of the milk with the cornstarch, vanilla and salt until smooth. Set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar with 6 tablespoons of water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until a deep amber caramel forms, about 8 minutes.  Be sure not to stir the cooking sugar.  If anything, feel free to swirl the pan around a bit.   Be patient but watch the stove like a hawk as caramel changes color quickly.  This is no time for multitasking.  Just stand there and enjoy watching your caramel cook.

Remove from the heat. Very gradually whisk in the remaining 3 1/2 cups of milk.  As you begin whisking it in, the caramel will get very dark and begin to seize with the cold milk.  Not to worry… everything will work out.

Return the pot to the stove and whisk over moderate heat until the caramel has dissolved again. Once again, watch this closely as the milk will foam up quickly as it comes to a simmer. Simmer over moderately low heat until the mixture thickens  just slightly and deepens in color, about 10 minutes.

Gradually whisk the cornstarch mixture into the caramel. Cook again over moderate heat, stirring, until the pudding thickens, about one minute.  The pudding may look and feel pretty loose, but will thicken nicely when chilled in the fridge.

Strain the pudding fine strainer set over a large measuring cup; if you are, you can skip this and nothing terrible will happen. Scrape the pudding into eight 1/2-cup ramekins and refrigerate until chilled and set, about 2 hours.

To avoid a pudding skin press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of each pudding dish as it chills.  Top with a generous sprinkle of coarse sea salt and a big ol’ dollop of whipped cream.

Previous PostNext Post

Categories: Gluten-Free, Recipes, tips

Previous Post: « Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread
Next Post: Tart Pan Giveaway! »

Reader Interactions

All Comments
I Made This
Questions
  1. Teresa

    August 31, 2012 at 8:50 am

    Jill,
    I saw your recipe and it was perfect! My friends birthday is coming up and I wanted something special for her. I made a four layer cake, alternating spice and golden cake. In the spice cake, I poke holes with the round end of a wooden spoon and fill it with your caramel pudding running a spatula over it until the holes are full and a nice layer is on the cake. I stack them one at a time, prefilled. In the golden layer I add my pumpkin cheesecake, your caramel pudding is oh so good in the cake itself, but to be combined with pumpkin cheesecake is like heaven. I iced the outside and decorated with pecans and such. I had planned to simply stencil the top with a sugar or spice, but after tasting your whipped cream, I decided to ice the cake, make your whipped cream, add a bit of baileys to it and put very large spoonfulls of it atop the cake. It was not only elegant and gorgeous, but there were comments such as the best cake I’ve ever made, how much I had outdone myself and how no one had every made anything like it. Thank you for making my friends birthday so special!!! You are wonderful! So much can be done with this recipe over the holidays! Should I begin with caramel martinis?!?!

    Reply
  2. Janeti

    October 18, 2011 at 4:09 am

    hey joy!
    caramel puddings are in the fridge, can’t wait to eat them! everything worked pretty good. but i think next time i should give the caramel a little more time..it’s a bit too bright i guess.
    thanks for the wonderful video, i really enjoyed watching it! (;
    greetings from germany,
    janeti
    (Ps: excuse me for my bad english d: )

    Reply
  3. Edward

    August 17, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Hey there –

    We’ve tried the caramel pudding and it’s come out EXCELLENT – your recipe is rad. I’m just wondering – awhile back I had a delicious salted caramel pudding at a restaurant in Oakland called Flora. It was heady. But it was also really different from yours – it wasn’t really a pudding – it had more the consistency of a soft cookie dough without the chocolate chips. Maybe even a fudge. It was very smooth but very very dense. I conjectured that perhaps it was substituting a whole lot of egg yolk instead of corn starch.

    Could you maybe suggest a change in the recipe that would have it come out that way in particular, and if it IS egg yolks, how many and what the difference in the cooking process would be?

    I’d be grateful.

    Reply
  4. shelley

    July 31, 2011 at 9:00 am

    Just wanted to thank you for a great recipe!!!! Delicious!! Caramel is very intimidating to me, but your recipe worked so wonderfully it really made it very easy!!!

    Reply
  5. leah

    February 15, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    mmm…but now my computer is sticky! Pudding was a little pale, and didn’t have a deep caramel flavor, but I suspect I didn’t let the sugar get deep enough amber…i just know there is a fine line between caramelized and burnt, so next time, I’ll give it a little longer. I’ll blame it on the new fluorescent lighting in my new house’s kitchen, making it look darker than it was:-)

    Reply
  6. scatterbrain

    June 9, 2010 at 10:26 pm

    I am going to try this recipe out. I love caramel anything!! The best thing I like about this recipe is that the ingredients are available in India (where I live) and are not too expensive. i can hardly ever do most western recipies I find because some ingredients are waaaaay too expensive as they are imported. I bought a bottle of corn syrup a while ago and i use it like gold! same goes with cream cheese….. cream cheese!!!@@!!

    anyway, I just wanted to say I looooove your blog and I have just become one of your regulars! God bless you Joy! (what a lovely name!)

    Reply
  7. Amanda

    June 8, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    Hey Joy– I tried to make this pudding yesterday– twice! The first time I didn’t let the caramel go long enough, so I stuck it in the fridge but decided to try another batch. A few hours later, I came back to this initial pudding and it was custardy consistency, or like flan– VERY thick. The second time, it looked and tasted completely smooth and great when warm; I put it in the fridge for a few hours, and taking it out in front of friends, it was horrifyingly lumpy, even when mixed. (No cornstarch bubbles… just lumpy. Weird.) Suspicious that I left it on the stove for too long after adding the cornstarch. Thoughts?

    Reply
« Older Comments

Trackbacks

  1. Mini Apple Cider Donuts | Runway Chef says:
    October 22, 2013 at 3:58 am

    […] 1 cup of caramel pudding (I made half of this recipe) 1/2 an apple, finely diced 1 teaspoon of […]

    Reply
  2. My favorite recipes from around the web | What I've learned along the way… says:
    October 30, 2012 at 9:18 am

    […] Caramel Pudding- Never buy store bought pudding again. […]

    Reply
  3. Salted Caramel Pudding with a Whisper of Chocolate Recipe | Fields of Cake and Other Good Stuff says:
    November 8, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    […] and adore, but I wanted to go beyond that. I searched and searched and decided on playing with a recipe from Joy the Baker. Caramel Pudding. Seeing how I am OBSESSED with salted caramel and chocolate these days I couldn’t pass this […]

    Reply
  4. Carmel Pudding | Laura & Anna says:
    January 4, 2011 at 11:06 am

    […] stole it from over here at one of my favorite blogs: Joy the […]

    Reply
  5. pie oh my says:
    June 27, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    […] to the pies though. One is a caramel peanut butter pie inspired entirely by this caramel pudding.  The other, is a raspberry rhubarb pie kind of sort of from the lovely Babycakes […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RELATED POSTS IN Gluten-Free

Gluten-Free Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins

It was supposed to rain last Wednesday, as it’s always supposed to rain every summer afternoon down south.  The rain is a welcome relief to the blanket of humidity we lie under unless, of course, you planned to be outside picking blueberries during said torrential downpour.  I’ve quickly learned to just get out in the…

Read More

Crisp, salty, sweet peanut butter cookie recipe stacked on rack,
Easy 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Maybe you thought I gave all my cookie magic away in holiday cookie tins tied with glittery bows last month, but NOPE! There is literally ALWAYS cookie dough balls in my freezer so every season is cookie season.  These sweet and salty peanut butter cookies are some of best and easiest.  They come together with…

Read More

Chewy Italian almond flour cookies on a wooden board
Gingerbread Ricciarelli (Chewy Italian Almond Flour Cookies)

If you’ve flipped through the latest issue of Joy the Baker Magazine, you might have noticed that I went on an Italian Christmas cookie bender.  I just think there’s so much possibility in an Italian pink bakery box tied with baker’s twine and I wanted to create those possibilities for you.  I couldn’t possibly pick…

Read More

Primary Sidebar

Fresh baked emails, delivered to your inbox

Jump to Recipe

Receive recipes from Joy the Baker and updates on events at The Bakehouse.

HI! I’M JOY!

Jump to Recipe

Welcome! This has been my little corner of the internet since 2008!

I’m a baker, photographer, cookbook author and teacher.  I live laugh love in New Orleans. 

MORE ABOUT JOY AND THE TEAM

BOOKS + Magazines

Jump to Recipe

JOY THE BAKER 2022 SUMMER MAGAZINE

JOY THE BAKER 2021 HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

JOY THE BAKER 2020 HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

HOMEMADE DECADENCE

OVER EASY: SWEET AND SAVORY RECIPES FOR LEISURELY DAYS COOKBOOK

JOY THE BAKER COOKBOOK

Jump to Recipe
joy the baker on facebook joy the baker on twitter pinterest-social instagram-socialbloglovin-social

JOY @ WILLIAMS SONOMA

Jump to Recipe

SHOP THE CAKE LINE OF CAKE MIXES!

DRAKE ON CAKE

Jump to Recipe

Passionate from miles away since 2015.

CHECK IT OUT ON INSTAGRAM

Drake on cake instagram.

 

BREADS YOU’LL LOVE

jambalaya buttermilk biscuits in a row

Smoked Sausage Jambalaya Buttermilk Biscuits

inside of warm cinnamon roll on plate

How To Make The Best Single Serve Cinnamon Roll

Orange roll on a plate with a fork.

Christmas Morning Orange Rolls

LET’S MAKE COOKIES!

a stack of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies with a bite taken out of the top one with milk

Classic White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

wider shot of lemon bars stacked on a plate with a bite taken out of one lemon bar

My Favorite Classic Lemon Bars Recipe

completed recipe close up shot of a blondie so the toasted almonds, chocolate chips, and sea salt can be seen

My Best Classic Blondie Recipe

Footer

Instagram

joythebaker

📚Baker, author of books, lover of butter
🎂Creator @drakeoncake
📝Inquiries megan@underscoretalent.com
🍰 Products with @williamssonoma

joythebaker
The To-Do List can wait until after cookies, amiri The To-Do List can wait until after cookies, amiright? 
⁣
Two Giant Peanut Butter Cookies⁣
(or four smaller cookies) ⁣
⁣
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted⁣
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed⁣
1 large egg yolk⁣
A splash of vanilla extract⁣
1/4 cup peanut butter⁣
1/2 cup all-purpose flour or a gluten-free flour blend⁣
1/4 teaspoon baking soda⁣
1/4 teaspoon salt⁣
Coarse sugar and/or sea salt for sprinkling, optional⁣
⁣
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. ⁣
⁣
I’m a medium bowl, whisk together warm melted butter and brown sugar. Whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Add the peanut butter and mix to combine. ⁣
⁣
Add the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all the ingredients together. Divide in two big portions (or four smaller portions) onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and salt if you’d like. ⁣
⁣
Bake two giant cookies for 12-14 minutes, or four cookies for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with cold milk.
You know those particularly messy sandwiches that, You know those particularly messy sandwiches that, when you pick up, you know you can’t put down until they’re good and gone? These Milk and Cereal Bars are the ice cream version of that sensation. So crunchy creamy sweet, with a hint of salt and spice. ⁣
⁣
Three Mostly Store-Bought Homemade Ice Cream Treat recipes are linked in the profile. It’s giving Semi-Homemade without the tablescapes or vodka. Iykyk.
I spent the weekend with Will and my family in Sou I spent the weekend with Will and my family in Southern California and there were sailboats, and vintage cars, and paddle boarding, and so many family laughs, and cookouts, and holding hands with my handsome boyfriend in a backwards baseball cap (WHY IS THAT SO SEXY?) but - the way we ordered a second TOWER OF ONION RINGS for the table at lunch was like…. BEYOND. 🥲🥰🥹😅🥳
Raise you hand if you secretly love a boxed cake m Raise you hand if you secretly love a boxed cake mix? Me: 🙋🏻‍♀️
⁣
My favorite version is this Easy Strawberry Sheet Cake baby topped with cream cheese frosting and extra fresh 🍓🍓. Perfect for the holiday weekend amiright? ⁣
⁣
Full recipe linked in the bio!
I woke up a year older and wiser today and the onl I woke up a year older and wiser today and the only advice I have for you is this: stay busy makin’ your own dreams come true. ⁣
⁣
xo
Just in time for your holiday weekend dessert plan Just in time for your holiday weekend dessert planning - my very favorite Blueberry Cobbler. The secret is a generous handful of blackberries, lemon zest, and sugared drop biscuit topping! 🫐 Find the full recipe linked in the profile! Xo
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Joy the Baker
All rights reserved. Violators will be whupped and sent to bed with no dessert · Privacy Policy

Scroll Up