Burnt Sugar Pudding

Name: Burnt Sugar Pudding
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: 4 large egg yolks; 4 1/2 tablespoons/27 grams tapioca flour; 1 cup/260 grams heavy cream; 2 cups/520 grams whole milk; 1 teaspoon/6 grams fine sea salt; 1 teaspoon/4 grams vanilla extract; 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/225 grams sugar; 8 tablespoons/113 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces

December 9, 2011

Pudding is one of Aki’s favorite desserts. Classic American puddings are made with either flour or cornstarch. We substitute tapioca flour in our stirred custards because it gels at a lower temperature and still provides the right texture in the finished dessert. This pudding was inspired by classic butterscotch pudding, which gets its flavor from brown sugar and a hint of vanilla. Burnt sugar is a slight misnomer because although the dark caramel we make here does have a slightly bitter edge, it is not the unpleasantly acrid taste of fully burnt sugar. We recommend that, if possible, you let the pudding rest for several hours or overnight before eating it. This gives the intense caramel flavor time to soften and mellow.

Recipe notes

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