When is the last time you had homemade pudding? Many people have never had it. I’m not talking about the kind of pudding that came as a powder in a box that you had to either cook or beat for a couple of minutes. I’m talking honest-to-goodness pudding from scratch.

Like many others, I hadn’t bothered making pudding in any way other than from a box since my high school Home Ec. Then, one day about eight years ago, I was eating some watery, tasteless butterscotch pudding from a cup, and I thought, “How hard can it be to make pudding with some flavor and texture?”

It was easy! And fast! In total, that first batch of butterscotch pudding took me about five minutes, but what a difference five minutes made. The pudding was rich, creamy, and complexly flavored. Over the years I’ve tweaked my recipe and gotten it to the perfect blend of butterscotch, salt, and a hint of vanilla. If you’ve got five minutes and you’d like to get in the wayback machine to see how real butterscotch pudding used to taste, try it. It’s pretty foolproof, and well worth the effort.

• 3 T dark brown sugar
• 3 T unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• pinch salt
• 2 cups whole milk (not 2 percent or skim)
• 3 T corn starch
• 3 T water
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Method

1. In a saucepan, melt butter and blend in brown sugar until well combined and bubbly.
2. Stir in heavy cream until sugar/butter is dissolved.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add salt and whole milk, stirring to combine.
5. Allow to cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, combine water and cornstarch to form a slurry.
6. Return pudding to medium heat and slowly add the slurry, stirring constantly.
7. Continue to stir until pudding begins to thicken and bubble around the edges.
8. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring for one minute.
9. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
10. Spoon pudding into custard cups and chill.