Butterscotch Budino

Melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Keep in mind that there are two measurements for butter in this recipe. We're looking at the first one, which should be 3 Tbsp unless you've scaled the recipe.

Add the brown sugar. Stir frequently over medium-low until the brown sugar begins to melt. This may take awhile.

Sprinkle in the corn starch and stir, scraping along the bottom of the pan until the corn starch is well mixed with the melted butter and sugar.

Stir in the milk in a slow stream. The cold milk will likely cause the brown sugar to seize up. This is fine, but if you can add the milk slowly enough that it mixes with the sugar evenly, you can avoid some possible clumping.

Now add the cream and bring the pot to a bare simmer. Stir until any clumps of sugar have melted into the cream.

Now for the most challenging part of the recipe. You need to temper the eggs so that they don't cook and clump when added to the pudding. You can do this by removing a small amount of the hot pudding from the batch, and then quickly mixing the egg yolks into that smaller portion until smooth.

Once the smaller portion of pudding is thoroughly mixed with the egg, mix it back into the larger portion in the pot. Stir until well mixed, making sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan to avoid sticking.

Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Gently scrape the inner face of each half of the split vanilla bean to clear the contents (a dark, grainy paste) and stir it into the pot.

Stirring frequently, bring the pudding to a gentle boil.

As soon as the pudding begins to bubble, add a pinch of salt and mix well.

Pour the hot pudding into serving dishes, leaving a little space at the top for the butterscotch. Any heat-safe container will work, from a cereal bowl to a mason jar. small mason jars are ideal to show off the layers.

Transfer the filled containers to the fridge to chill and set.

While the pudding sets, we'll work on the butterscotch topping. First, melt the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. If you make these ahed of time, you may want to make the topping closer to when the budino will be served.

Add the butter for the topping (should be 1/2 cup unless you've adjusted the scale). Carefully whisk the melted butter in with the sugar.

Whisk in the cream in a thin stream.

Mix well and bring the caramel to a gentle boil. Hold that temperature, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes.

Pour a thin layer over the top of the pudding to seal. Once the caramel is ready, the pudding should be partially set, but you can always just set aside the caramel and warm it up again when you're ready. I recommend adding the topping just before serving.