Caramel Pudding

When I read Avanika’s blog post,I felt she was quoting my experience,except the part about braces.I had to extract my wisdom tooth a while back,not one but two.To say I was not worried would be a big fat lie.I was terrified and stressful the night before.I tried to stay calm and sat in the clinic chair as though I was the bravest person on earth!!If the doc came near to me before the injections,I am sure he would have heard my heartbeats..lol.

But,I have to admit-the process as a whole was relatively painless.Within fifteen minutes,two of the tooth were extracted and I had a stitch too.The silver lining was that,as soon as I got up from the chair,the doc asked me to eat ‘lots of ice-cream and milkshakes’the whole day and I could see whatever discomfort I had drifting away!!

I wish I had seen this pudding then!!

Never mind,better late than never and boy am I glad I tried this.Too good to believe.I absolutely love the caramel flavor and this is one easy pudding to try.

Caramel pudding
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients [makes 4 small bowls]

4 cups milk, whole or 2%

5 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup [240 g] sugar

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the milk with the cornstarch, vanilla and salt until smooth. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, combine the sugar with 6 tablespoons of water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until a deep amber caramel forms, about 8 minutes. Do not leave the stove at any point, there are only ever a few seconds between perfection, and burnt, unusable caramel. Once you are satisfied with the color, remove the pan from the heat.
SLOWLY whisk in the remaining 3 1/2 cups of milk. You don't want to hurry this up, because the caramel will bubble up like an erupting volcano! Don't worry about the color, which will darken, that is what you want to achieve for maximum flavor! The caramel might clump up as well.
Once all the milk is added, return the pan to the stove, over medium low heat, to dissolve the clumped up caramel. Keep going until the mixture is slightly thicker, and the color has deepened, about 10 minutes.
Now add the milk cornflour mixture to the pan, while constantly stirring. The pudding will thicken up almost immediately, about 1 minute.
Pour into small bowls [keep the serving sizes small].

If you feel you couldn't get all the clumps out, or if you want perfection, you could strain the mixture. I didn't, and you couldn't tell. Also, if you want to avoid the pudding skin, you can lay plastic wrap directly over the bowl, touching the pudding to avoid its formation.

Serve chilled.
I topped the pudding with some coarsely crushed butterscotch chips.

To all my friends who celebrate...Happy Easter!!