Pudding-Palooza!

I’m not sure why, but for the past couple of weeks I’ve been on this Butterscotch Pudding kick.  I don’t know why or where it came from but it came in with a vengeance and is still kicking around with no sign of leaving.  Fortunately, I have some very easy-going taste testers to help me out.

What is it about pudding?  It’s such a kids’ dessert, but it’s just so good!  It can be fancy, or plain.  You can fold it into whipped cream for a quick mousse or use it to make a beautiful trifle.   You could even toss it into a popsicle mold and freeze it!  Oh the possibilities!

First I decided to just do a plain old butterscotch pudding recipe and top it with some crushed Heath bar.  Absolutely delicious!  Then I decided to try a more grown-up, Italian twist on pudding, the Caramel Budino with Salted Caramel Sauce from Bon Appétit Sept 2011.  The budino starts off with a chocolate cookie crumb crust, then a layer caramel pudding, and topped with a salted caramel sauce.  I tasted each layer separately as I was making them, as any good chef should do, and each layer was OK, nothing special.  I put the puddings in the fridge to chill and set, figuring at least it would be something different for dessert. 

Sometimes the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, and sometimes it goes the other way.  In this case it went the other way!  The layers all together were soooooo good.  The chocolate-y crust, sweet smooth pudding, and salty sweet sauce hit just about every taste bud I had.  I’m not going to lie, using an extra wafer cookie instead of a spoon, while not mandatory, is highly recommended!