I love the dramatic colors in this Caramel Budino. The layers of tawny custard and bronze caramel topped with snowy white whipped cream and black chocolate crumbs remind me of tiger stripes.
This gorgeous dessert tastes as sophisticated as it looks. First there’s the double hit of complex, smoky caramel – once in the silky pudding and again in the thick swath of caramel sauce. A sprinkling of flaky sea salt accentuates the caramel. Underneath and sprinkled over the top, the sandy texture and slightly bitter flavor of dark chocolate cookie crumbs contrasts with the creamy sweetness of the other components.
Bourbon (or rum) is a common addition to budino, and some recipes I’ve seen have called for a splash of alcohol in the pudding itself. I’ve experimented with this and while I like the flavor, I find the addition of alcohol keeps the pudding from firming up properly.
I prefer to add the bourbon to the caramel sauce instead. The sauce I use for this Caramel Budino is a standalone recipe with many other uses. It’s great over ice cream, pound cake, fresh fruit, or anything chocolate — and the bourbon flavor is an especially good match with pumpkin (try it on Pumpkin Pecan Streusel Tart, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bread pudding or pumpkin ice cream). If you don’t have bourbon on hand or prefer not to use it, you can substitute vanilla extract.
Making this Caramel Budino ahead, and what to do with leftovers:
- The crust and pudding layers must be made at least 4 hours ahead (and up to a day ahead) to give the dessert time to chill and firm up.
- You’ll have plenty of time to make the caramel sauce while the pudding is chilling, but since it keeps for weeks in the fridge you can also make it in advance. It must be at pourable room temperature when added to the top of the pudding, so if you’ve made it ahead, let it sit out at room temp while the pudding is setting up. When the time comes to pour the sauce over the pudding, reheat the sauce very gently over low heat, whisking constantly, until it’s just loose enough to pour but not so warm it will melt the pudding.
- Once you’ve added the caramel sauce to the top of the pudding, chill the desserts for 30 minutes to firm up the caramel. You can chill for up to 2 hours, but don’t let them sit longer than that or else the caramel will start to break down the pudding and it will get soupy. For this reason, if you plan to keep leftovers, don’t add the caramel sauce to any portions you plan to keep for the next day.
- Add the sea salt, whipped cream topping and sprinkle of cookie crumbs right before serving.
- Leftovers will keep for a day or two – but as stated above, don’t add the caramel topping until the day of serving.
To see this dessert as part of a dinner menu, complete with a game plan providing timing and sequencing for all steps, see the post for Saturday October 23, 2021.
Caramel Budino
Once you've added the caramel sauce in Step 6, don't let the pudding chill for more than 2 hours, or it will start to soften.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup finely ground chocolate cookie crumbs (from about 10 Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
- Kosher salt
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1½ cups whole milk
- Caramel Sauce, at room temperature
- Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar
Directions
- Step 1 Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the cookie crumbs for the topping, then add the remaining crumbs to the melted butter along with a pinch of kosher salt. Divide the mixture among four, 6-ounce dessert glasses, patting them out gently across the bottom of each glass. Transfer the glasses to the refrigerator while making the pudding.
- Step 2 Combine the brown sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high and cook without stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil without stirring for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
- Step 3 Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat, just until scalded (little wrinkles will form on the surface of the milk and small bubbles will form around the edge of the pan – don’t let the milk come to a full boil.) While the milk is heating, whisk the cornstarch and egg yolks together in a medium bowl. Whisk in ¼ teaspoon of salt if using Diamond Crystal, or a large pinch if using Morton’s. Set a sieve over a 4-cup liquid measuring cup or a medium mixing bowl.
- Step 4 Use a ladle to gradually pour about ½ cup of the scalded milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Then, slowly whisk the milk/egg mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk. Whisk in the brown sugar mixture. Continue whisking vigorously – the pudding will thicken quickly. As soon as it starts to bubble, remove it from the heat. Pour the pudding through the sieve into the measuring cup, pressing with a silicone spatula to get it all through – it will be very thick. Once all the pudding is through the sieve, use the spatula to scrape the pudding off the outside of the bottom of the sieve and into the measuring cup. Pour the pudding over the crusts in the prepared glasses, dividing it evenly. Chill the pudding uncovered for 3 hours, or up to overnight.
- Step 5 Make the caramel sauce and let it cool just to room temperature – it must be loose enough to be pourable. (If the caramel sauce cools too much and gets too thick to pour, heat it very gently over low heat, whisking constantly, just until it’s loosened but not actually warm.) Carefully spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of caramel sauce over the pudding in each glass, starting at the edges and spiraling toward the center. Carefully tip and rotate the glass to help the caramel sauce spread out to cover the entire top surface of the pudding in an even layer. (The quantity of caramel sauce needed will depend on the diameter of your glasses – use enough to just cover the surface of the pudding in a thin but solid layer.) Return the glasses to the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours).
- Step 6 Whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar to form soft peaks.
- Step 7 Sprinkle each pudding with a few grains of sea salt. Top with whipped cream and garnish each serving with ¼ of the reserved cookie crumbs.
