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This Salted Caramel Pudding is the perfect balance of sweet, creamy, crunchy, and just a bit salty to keep things exciting. Make these ahead of your next gathering for a nostalgic treat that's totally awesome.
The Hermetic Principles of The Kybalion have had a huge impact on modern witchcraft. It's the principle of polarity that I often find myself drawn to as a kitchen witch. Understanding opposition and contrast, the blending of things that seem different on the surface but might be the same underneath, are all part of creating a truly delicious dish.
Take sweet and salty, for example. They seem like opposites, either/or, two extremes that don't ever meet. But salt is really just a flavor enhancer, so it heightens everything it touches if you add it in the right amount. Instead of choosing one or the other, you realize that everything is connected and opposites rely on each other to balance themselves out. Witchcraft is everywhere.
What makes Salted Caramel Pudding so awesome?
This Salted Caramel Pudding is awesome because it blends contrasting flavors and textures beautifully. The crunch of chocolate cookie crumbs beautifully accompanies the smooth creamy homemade pudding. The sweet intensity of caramel is given depth and intrigue by a hint of sea salt. Basically, you're gonna want to lick the bowl to get every last drop.
There's nothing difficult about this recipe, but it is a bit time consuming and requires lots of dishes, so I recommend making it when you have plenty of time and won't feel stressed. The beauty is that because it has to chill before serving, you have to make it ahead of time. So if you're having people over for dinner, you can make this the day before, and dessert is ready to go. Your friends will absolutely love to dig into their own little dish of nostalgic sweetness.
Magical Properties of Salt
We've already talked about the magic of salt to bring out the flavor of your food, but it's a staple in your witchcraft spells as well. Just like every dish needs a pinch of salt, every spell can benefit from the protective qualities of these tiny crystals. A salt ring has been used in folklore to protect from harmful spirits for centuries. It can also be used for cleansing, purification, healing, and prosperity. You can also use salt to represent earth energy and to the planet Saturn with its strong boundaries. (Source: The Kitchen Witch's Guide to Healing & Self-Care by Maggie Haseman)
For more info on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.
Ingredients
Here's everything you'll need to make this dessert. The full details are in the recipe card below.
- Chocolate sandwich cookies - such as Oreos
- Butter - use salted butter if you have it
- Milk - whole milk is best to make your pudding nice and rich
- Cornstarch - aka corn flour
- Brown sugar - dark brown sugar will give you a more intense flavor and deeper color, but use whatever you already have
- Water
- Egg yolks
- Coffee liqueur
- Salt - I use fine sea salt here so that it will dissolve more easily
- Salted caramel sauce - You could make your own, but we're already making pudding from scratch, so I go with store bought. It's just to drizzle over the top.
Tips for making Salted Caramel Pudding
There are a few stages to this. Nothing is complicated. It just takes a bit of patience and a lot of dishes.
So first, you'll make your crust by blitzing some Oreos on your food processor, then mixing the crumbs with melted butter. Press that mixture into the bottom of your pots, ramekins, or dessert bowls. Whatever is going to hold your final pudding.
Making homemade pudding is pretty cool. When something that seems totally liquidy suddenly turns thick, I know its just chemistry, but it still feels like magic. Be sure to follow the recipe below because you need to add things in the right order and at the right time. For that reason, I think it's best to get all your pudding ingredients measured out and ready to go ahead of time. A kitchen thermometer is also very helpful here.
Once your pudding is made, you can pour that evenly into your ramekins, then let it hang out in the fridge to set. Before you serve them, drizzle over move salted caramel sauce and crush up a few more cookies for added crunch.
I can't wait for you to expeirence the beautiful alchemy of salty and sweet with this Salted Caramel Pudding. It's gonna be awesome.
Looking for more awesome caramel treats? Try this Caramel Croissant Bread Pudding or some Caramel-Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies.
PrintSalted Caramel Pudding
This Salted Caramel Pudding is the perfect balance of sweet, creamy, crunchy, and just a bit salty to keep things exciting. Make these ahead of your next gathering for a nostalgic treat that's totally awesome.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 5 chocolate sandwich cookies
- 0.75 ounces salted butter, melted
For the pudding
- 1-½ cups whole milk, divided
- ⅛ cup cornstarch
- ⅜ cup brown sugar
- ⅜ cup water
- 3 egg yolks
- 0.75 ounces salted butter
- 1 teaspoon coffee liqueur
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Toppings:
- Your favorite salted caramel sauce
- Whipped cream, optional
- Chocolate cookie crumbs
Instructions
- To make the crust, add your cookies to a food processor and blitz until you have fine crumbs.
- Add the melted butter and process to combine.
- Divide the mixture between four small jars or bowls. Gently press the crumbs into the bottom to flatten out the crust. Stash these in the fridge while you get on with the pudding.
- For the pudding, we need to get a few things ready to be mixed together at the proper moment. Start by whisking together the corn starch and ¼ cup of your milk until combined. Set this aside.
- Next, measure out your remaining milk into a microwave safe container, and heat it up in the microwave for two minutes or until it starts to steam. You could also, obviously, do this on the stove. Remove it from the heat just when you start to see bubbles forming around the edge. Set aside.
- Add your egg yolks to a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric mixer on medium high for about three minutes until pale and foamy.
- In a medium saucepan, stir together your brown sugar and water just until combined, then get rid of your spoon. You don't want to stir it anymore once you put it on the heat. Attach a candy thermometer. Cook this mixture over medium heat until it reaches 210 degrees fahrenheit. Remove from the heat.
- It's time to go back to the egg yolks. Turn your mixer back on low, and slowly drizzle in your hot milk mixture. Next add the milk and corn starch mixture, and finally the caramel. Be very careful with this as it will still be quite hot.
- Once everything's been fully combined in your mixing bowl, turn your mixture off then transfer the whole mixture back to the saucepan. Cook this mixture over medium low heat, stirring gently all the while for about five minutes or until it reaches 175 degrees. It will seem like it will never thicken, and then all at once it will magically turn to pudding.
- Off the heat, stir in the butter, coffee liqueur, and salt.
- Evenly divide your pudding mixture into your four containers with the crust. Put these back in the fridge for at least four hours.
- To serve, add a layer of your favorite salted caramel sauce, some whipped cream, and some cookie crumbs. Enjoy!
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