Sweet Melissa Sunday - Melissa's Butterscotch Pudding

I just noticed that this will be my 66th post! Won't be long and I will hit 100. And, just a few short months ago, I didn't know anything about having a blog. Excuse me while I wipe away a tear. :)

Pudding. My usual experience with pudding is to open one of those boxes and pour some milk into a pan with the contents of the box, stir, heat and eat. I don't usually make pudding from scratch. The last time I made a pudding, I had to put it in the freezer so I could eat it with something other than a straw. (I went back and tried the same recipe a second time with better results). So, I was a bit nervous about trying this week's recipe, which Jennifer of Maple n' Cornbread (such a great name for a blog and such a pretty blog!) picked for us. You can find the recipe on her blog.  I thought about passing, but I did have everything on hand I needed to try it and decided to give it a go.

I halved the recipe. I happen to like butterscotch and pudding, but the hubby is a fan of neither. He's a cake/cookie/brownie kind of guy. Pudding? He would use it on top of a piece of cake or brownie in place of whipped cream, but never eat just pudding on it's own. So, knowing all of this, I figured half the recipe would be more than enough. Thought about making a quarter of the recipe, but it made my brain hurt trying to cut it in half and then cut it in half again. :D

Followed the recipe to a "T". I was a bit startled and concerned with I added the amber colored sugar to the cream mixture and it (the sugar) became this mass of solid rock in my cream! I didn't panic (too much). I just kept stirring and stirring and finally the rock melted into the cream and all was well again.

Filled the bowls I was using for the pudding, placed them in an 9x9 inch baking pan and filled the pan half way up the bowls with hot water. Covered with foil and into the oven it went.

I checked after 45 minutes and my pudding was still very liquid-y. I recovered the pan and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Checked again and it seemed more solid, but I decided to check the temperature as Melissa suggests in the recipe. I got 157 degrees and pulled the puddings from the oven. Set them on the counter, still in the pan and let them cool to room temperature. The very centers still seemed a bit jiggle-y, but I figured it would firm up in the fridge.

Well, the outer edges of each pudding firmed up, but the very center, about a 1/2 circle stayed liquid. The flavor is wonderful. It's warm, rich, not too sweet. Silky on the tongue. It's a delicious pudding and I could see making it again. What a wonderful pie filling it would make. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I am sure the problem with the still liquid center is my fault. Either I under-baked them, or didn't have the thermometer placed in the center, or who knows. I won't call this a true "Fail" because some of the pudding is, well, pudding. Had the center thickened up, it would have been perfect.

If you would like to see what the other SMS bakers (or pudding makers!) thought, please head over and check them out! Can you believe next week's recipe will the be first one in February?!?!

One last thing I would like to leave you with. We received about 9-10 inches of snow yesterday. Living in the country, we see a lot of deer and turkey in our back yard. This morning, while at the kitchen sink looking out into the yard, I spotted this small button buck foraging for something to eat. I ran, grabbed my camera and took a couple of pictures. After he wandered off, I cut up some apples and put them out there for when he returns.

Tuesdays with Dorie - Split-Level Pudding - Take Two

I am a stubborn person. Could be the German in me or perhaps the Irish. I hate to give up on something. I am also very competitive. Hate to lose at anything. So, when my attempt at this weeks recipe, Split-Level Pudding ended up in the freezer because it didn't thicken, I was very upset.

I wasn't going to try to make the pudding until after my trip. I have a ton of things to do before I leave Friday morning. Packing is one of them. But, all day long I thought about the pudding. I read several posts yesterday that said they didn't use the food processor, just used a whisk. So, when I got home today I decided to give it another try.

I am very pleased to report that it turned out beautifully! I added one teaspoon of almond extract instead of vanilla, and used a whisk instead of the food processor, but that was the only change. I put it in a clear pudding dish and put it in the fridge and several hours later pulled one out and it was perfect! Yeah!!! I knew I could do it!!

While my pudding was cooling in the fridge, I worked on a cake for an 89 year old's birthday. I bake and decorate cakes. This one was ordered by my daughter's boss. He has ordered several cakes from me in the past. He thinks he's getting a simple sheet cake, but since he is a repeat customer and it's for someone who's going to be 89, I thought it should be a bit more special. Since it's October, and someone 89 is in the "autumn of their life", I went with a fall theme for decoration. I think he will like it.

Tuesdays with Dorie - Split-Level Pudding

This weeks recipe was Split-Level Pudding and it was chosen by Garrett of The Flavor of Vanilla. This looked like such a yummy recipe and I was really excited to try it.

I guess it had to happen sooner or later. I had to have a "fail" on one of these recipes. This was it. A great big Fail! I will say in my defense that I am a baker, not a pudding maker. :)

I had such high hopes for this recipe. I decided to add espresso powder to the cornstarch and salt and make my split-level chocolate and coffee. It was going to be sooo good.

The ganache gave me no trouble. I brought the cream to a boil, poured it over the chopped chocolate, waited 30 seconds, slowly stirred and Wah Lah! Perfect! Poured that into the four ramekins I had set out.

I didn't start worrying about the second half until I added the hot milk to the processor and processed it. I had a very large amount of foam. Foam? But, I gallantly went on. I cooked the foam over medium heat, waiting for it to thicken. Had to keep lowering the heat as it was getting too hot too quick but not thickening. Finally it began to get thick, but was a strange texture, thick but full of holes. Again I continued on. Put it in my food processor, added the butter and vanilla and hit the pulse a few times...and ended up with a very thin liquid in my processor. Not at all pudding like. But, I put it into the ramekins and covered it with plastic and put them in the fridge. Checked them this morning and they were just as thin and watery as they were when I put them in the fridge. So, I did the only thing I could do. I stuck them in the freezer.

So, no pudding for my house. We had frozen icy milky stuff. It tastes great! However it is nothing like what it is supposed to be. I don't know where I went wrong. Not sure what step doomed the pudding, but I did something wrong. :( Someday I will try again, but not this week. I am heading to Germany on Friday and will be missing the next two Tuesdays. In the meantime, head over to TWD and see what everyone else thought.