I love when my kitchen is full of hot sugar and warm milk that turns into caramel pudding.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
It worked. Everything worked. Friendship in tact. Pudding ready to be strained.
Individually wrapped caramel pudding ready to chill. We licked the spatula. We licked the bowl . It was totally the right thing to do.
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.
But first… let’s just concentrate on the pudding…
and the whipped cream and sea salt that are about to top that pudding.
and my Mom who couldn’t resist a bowl.
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.
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
serves 8 small servings or 4 caramel pudding lover servings
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.
Maura
Hi Joy! I ran home to make this caramel pudding recipe as soon as I saw your video (caramel and sea salt = YUM)…
The caramel turned out perfectly, but I ran into trouble, I think, with the corn starch mixture. When I added it at the very end the pudding thickened up, but it also clumped up a TON. Like, more than you could possibly strain out… So the final product was like 1/2 pudding to 1/2 starchy clumps.
Any idea where I went wrong? Thanks!
Maura
Zoe
Oh me too!! I had exactly the same problems as you and Amanda – clumped pudding!! I’m thinking maybe we put in too much cornstarch – i.e. heaped tablespoons… the stray cats in my flat will like it though! ;)
Sibylle Hulbert
Seeing is believing – great instructional video. Looking forward to many more.
Sydney
This looks fantastic…..I love ANYTHING sweet and I can taste this.yummmmmmmmmmy
Pete
this sounds and looks great…..will give it a try
Sophie
Joy, I really want to make your recipe. Like right this second.I heard you mention in your video that you can put eggs in the pudding, but you didn’t. I just so happen to have SO MANY egg yolks in my fridge left over from a massive butter cream extravaganza from last weekend. It involved separating 24 eggs. It was intense. Now, only 19 egg yolks remain, thanks to my cleverness, but when I heard you mention adding eggs, my thrifty mind immediately went to work. How many egg yolks could I add, and when would I add them? Do I need a whole different recipe? Can’t wait to make this,
Sophie
jen
oooh, i just made this! the pudding was sweet, rich and delicious. the sea salt and whipped cream just made it all dreamy.
Cathy Breit
i made this. the flavor was: rich, complex, simple, satisfying, leaving-me-wanting more. and yes. that makes sense. People. MAKE this.
Sophie
Have you read Into Thin Air by Jon Kraukauer (sp?) A must for anyone interested in Everest. Such a great book!
This pudding looks amazing. Joy, you are my hero. And Jill, it was great to meet you too! Hopefully this is the beginning of many posts with Joy and Jill together :)
The Real Jill
Oh, it will be!
ann
so i made this and i came up with a really pale color pudding. like the color of the comments box.
still it was delicious. thanks for the easy pudding recipe. even if i messed it up. i liked the taste. just wondering if you could pics up of the caramel. cauz i think that’s the bit i messed up.
SoMD_Baker
I pulled it from the stove right as it started to bubble, I guess it was too early.
THANK YOU!
SoMD_Baker
Joy, what did I do wrong? I halved the recipe, but followed it to a Tee. I have caramel colored soup. Actually it doesn’t taste like caramel, more like sweet milk. I waited until it was deep amber, added the milk, stirred for about 10min with no thickening, thought maybe it would condense with the cornstarch. . . added the cornstarch and chilled. . . .still soup. Can corn starch go bad or loose is coagulating properties? Help! I want to make this right!
joythebaker
did you bring the cornstarch mixture to a boil to let it thicken?
Rachel
I was just wondering if you know the difference between caramel and butterscotch pudding, how to make it i mean. I know i love butterscotch pudding and the caramel sounds delicious too. Something with brown sugar versus regular sugar?? keep up the good work joy!