Butterscotch is one of those flavors that can make you travel through time. I remember eating it, still warm off the stove, when I was just a kid. It was straight from the box of Jell-o instant pudding and it was fabulous to my 7-year-old taste buds. Today I’d probably have a very different reaction to that product and my poor kids have never even tried it. I’d be horrified by its overly sweet and gelatinous taste and they would probably love it! Instead I made them some from scratch, so they would have the same romantic memory, but this one they can take into adulthood.
I got David Lebovitz’s Ripe for Dessert book this year from my aunt Kris, the same one I sent the cake to FL for. It is a lovely book about all kinds of tasty desserts made with fresh fruit. As I was flipping through it fell to the page with butterscotch pudding. He paired it with bananas, which at first seemed like a match that would be far too sweet. But the banana’s are caramelized in coffee, which perfectly balances the sugar with the bite of coffee. Sweet enough to satisfy my sons and yet not at all cloying like the Jell-o of my childhood.
Butterscotch Pudding from Ripe for Dessert
The recipe is wonderful just as is, or made into a trifle with sponge cake soaked in the coffee caramel syrup, then layered with fresh whipped cream, the bananas and the butterscotch pudding. Follow along with the instructions and find the full recipe below.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and cook until it is all melted and bubbling vigorously.
Remove from the heat and add the heavy cream in a couple of tablespoons at a time so that it won’t splatter. Whisk well between additions. Whisk in the milk, vanilla bean and salt.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and eggs until the cornstarch dissolves. Whisk the cornstarch into the butterscotch pudding mixture.
Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the pudding comes to a boil. Continue cooking and whisking for 2 more minutes (add the whiskey now, if using!). The pudding will become nice and thick and should be boiling while you whisk. Don’t skimp on the 2 minutes or your pudding will not set up properly.
Strain the pudding through a fine mesh Strainer.
Divide into small cups or bowls, cover and chill. You can eat it warm as well! Top with whipped cream and the caramelized bananas:
In a large skillet melt the butter with the vanilla bean. Stir in the brown sugar and corn syrup, allow to melt, add the bananas in a single layer. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring! When the bananas start to sizzle add 3 tablespoons of the coffee.
Do not disturb the bananas as you spoon the caramel over the tops of them. Tilt the pan to collect the juices and spoon it over the bananas several times until they are deeply caramelized on the underside. This will take between 8-12 minutes depending on how ripe your bananas are. (I suspect that David used Plantains in his photo shoot, they are much larger and hold there shape very well. If you go this route you will need to cook them considerably longer.)
Once the bananas are fully caramelized remove them from the pan so they don’t get mushy.
Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of coffee to the juices left in the pan and stir together until everything is nicely melted and the consistency of maple syrup.
Spoon the bananas over the pudding and whipped cream. Drizzle a spoon of the caramel sauce over the top and serve.
To make a Trifle
I never throw away my cake scraps, which makes for a very crowded freezer. I wrap them really well so they won’t take on the personality of my freezer and then wrap them again! This way I have them on the ready for emergency desserts like trifle. I cubed up the cake scraps left from Kris’s birthday, soaked them with the coffee caramel sauce, layered it with the butterscotch pudding, whipped cream and bananas and repeated this until I got to the top of my trifle bowl, just beyond the top!!
This trifle would be fantastic made with Devil’s Food Cake as well!
Ingredients
Butterscotch Pudding
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter ½ stick
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ vanilla bean, split and scraped
- ¾ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp whiskey
- 1 cup light whipped heavy cream for garnish
Coffee-Caramelized Bananas
- 1 tbsp butter
- ½ vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 6 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp corn syrup
- 2 ripe bananas, cut into ½-inch squares not overly ripe
- 6 tbsp strong coffee or espresso
Instructions
Butterscotch Pudding
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and cook until it is all melted and bubbling vigorously.
- Remove from the heat and add the heavy cream in a couple of tablespoons at a time so that it won’t splatter. Whisk well between additions. Whisk in the milk, vanilla bean and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and eggs until the cornstarch dissolves. Whisk the cornstarch into the butterscotch pudding mixture.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the pudding comes to a boil. Continue cooking and whisking for 2 more minutes (add the whiskey now, if using!). The pudding will become nice and thick and should be boiling while you whisk. Don’t skimp on the 2 minutes or your pudding will not set up properly.
- Strain the pudding through a fine mesh strainer.
- Divide into small cups or bowls, cover and chill. You can eat it warm as well! Top with whipped cream and the caramelized bananas.
Coffee-Caramelized Bananas
- In a large skillet melt the butter with the vanilla bean. Stir in the brown sugar and corn syrup, allow to melt, add the bananas in a single layer. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring! When the bananas start to sizzle add 3 tablespoons of the coffee.
- Do not disturb the bananas as you spoon the caramel over the tops of them. Tilt the pan to collect the juices and spoon it over the bananas several times until they are deeply caramelized on the underside. This will take between 8-12 minutes depending on how ripe your bananas are. Once the bananas are fully caramelized remove them from the pan so they don’t get mushy.
- Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of coffee to the juices left in the pan and stir together until everything is nicely melted and the consistency of maple syrup.
- Spoon the bananas over the pudding and whipped cream. Drizzle a spoon of the caramel sauce over the top and serve.
Bananas caramelized in coffee sounds like heaven. This looks so comforting and delicious.
You have no idea how much this appeals to me. Butterscotch pudding is a childhood fave (yep, the Jello brand… might even still like it!)
Fabulous dessert!
YUM!
Those banana’s look to die for! I’m not a huge pudding fan but I would eat that whole cup just because of the fantastic toppings. I will definitely have to try that and pour them over ice cream or something! YUM
I love butterscotch and with bananas…yum! I used to love the boxed kind too, but now that I’ve tasted homemade, I can’t go back.
Ah, the memories this conjurs up! The addition of the carmelized bananas sounds delicious!
I believe you left the quantity of eggs out of the pudding recipe. How many?
Daaaamn that looks good. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had bananas with butterscotch. I think this must change, very soon.
Hi Deb,
Thank you for catching that! I’ve fixed the problem in the post.
Happy Baking!
Zoë
Where do you get those cute cups?
Hi Caren,
They are from Weck Canning:
http://www.weckcanning.com/docs/tulip.htm
Enjoy!
Zoë
I love the presentation in the little jars!
All three look so fantastic! You had me at “butterscotch pudding” though 🙂 Takes you right back to childhood. But you’re right – the instant stuff that tasted so good back then could never compare to fresh!
Wow, Zoe–heart attack in a bowl! This is one decadent dessert…amazing!
oh wow! that looks so so very good! I’m drooling!
I’d be so happy with the butterscotch pudding by itself. With everything else my head would probably explode from the awesomeness 🙂
Zoe, this one qualifies as actual food porn. Your pictures are so incredible. Two of my favorite cooks together, Zoe and David! Dessert, it’s not just for breakfast anymore. Check my facebook page to see why I am currently so irrational.
OMG, I’m in heaven reading this post! All my favourite flavours here.
those bananas have my mouth watering. I just love your step-by-step photos. I know first hand it takes a lot of work to do that! it’s much appreciated!
Bananas, coffee, and butterscotch – the holy trinity?
A tasty combination!
Oh yum! Butterscotch, bananas, coffee … what’s not to love! Thanks for the great recipes.
My gawd, this sounds like the most incredible pairing of flavors. I love butterscotch, but to add coffee-carmelized bananas, too? I am swooning, big-time! 😉
So unless my eyes deceive me, does the pudding end up a more off-white color than the usual caramel color?
Hi Carolyn,
You are right! It is not as dark as some that I have made. You could possibly “burn” the sugar a touch more, but not too much!
Zoë
I was just transporting back in time when I read your first sentence – heh! Butterscotch pudding (and Wherther’s candies)… so memorable.
Love that you use whiskey in it.
This sounds so fantastic. I love bananas paired with butterscotch.
how comforting is this zoe. oh yum! i could eat a big pot of this!
This dessert sounds and looks perfect. I LOVE caramelized bananas. Thanks for sharing!
This is so tempting – mainly because of the presentation. Butterscotch pudding was not a big part of my childhood (I don’t think we had it much, if at all), but I think maybe I’ll make it part of my adulthood. Nice work, as usual, Zoe.
lovely! i think i need to try this… bookmarking this!
I’ve tried David L’s butterscotch pudding recipe too, and it’s so great that you showed me how I can pair it with caramelized coffee bananas. It sounds so much more decadent!
This sounds amazing! I love caramelised bananas.
Help fast!!! How many eggs go into the pudding? The other night I was happily making this wonderful dessert then I got to the part about adding the eggs. Yicks!!! Eggs aren’t listed with the other ingredients!!! I did a little research and compared this recipe with others, made a guess and continued on. So how many should I have added? By the way this dessert is amazing as a trifle and made a big hit with my hostess. Thanks for your help.
Hi Lynette,
So sorry about that! I did fix the recipe a few days ago so now the post has the eggs included! 😉 There are 2 large eggs in the pudding!
So glad you enjoyed it!!!
Zoë
this looks amazing. i LOVE butterscotch anything, but this looks amazing! i saw a recipe in gourmet that looked great too, and then i found this — fate wants me to make it obviously!
That butterscotch pudding is calling meeeee….oh my I really need to add this recipe to my all time favorites (and so easy to do girl!)
thanks,
Heidi Leon
What a tasty treat!
So yummy! Those bananas sound delicious — I’d have trouble not disturbing them. 🙂
This recipe also reminds me of my childhood! My favorite treat for breakfast was fried bananas sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar and fresh blueberries from our yard. I REALLY want to try this dessert…breakfast… 🙂
When do I add the vanilla bean and the whiskey to the pudding?
When do I add the corn syrup to the bananas?
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your careful reading of the recipe. I do think I’ve corrected them!
Thanks! Zoë
What a delicious trifle, Zöe – and those wonderful bananas could go with so many different recipes, don’t you think?
merci Zoé pour la recette 🙂 je l’ai réalisée et nous avons tous adoré !
I just discovered this on your site. Very well timed! For Valentine’s day I promised my sweetheart some butterscotch pudding (to be made sometime in the future.) He generally doesn’t like sweets so I was surprised when he said he liked it. Maybe he has those jello pudding memories. Anyway, I will give this recipe a try! (I have David L’s books and love them!)
I will be making this recipe very soon! Love the flavor combinations in this dessert and looks very easy as well!