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    Home » Recipes » Dessert

    Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel

    Published: Oct 15, 2017 · Modified: Oct 5, 2018 by Melissa Stadler · This post may contain affiliate links · 29 Comments

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    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel is a layered dessert with a rich creamy custard and a handcrafted salted caramel sauce.

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    A few years ago, I attended a women's conference where they were serving a beautifully layered butterscotch budino custard dessert topped with a handcrafted salted caramel.

    I was on a diet.

    I was very sad to be on a diet.

    I watched everyone eat it with a huge smile on their face, describing in great detail about how amazing it was. Ever since then, I wanted to eat that exact dessert.

    Fast forward two years later. I recently attended a calligraphy workshop put on by Jill McKee of Modern March. She's ultra-talented at everything she does and she brought out a decadent butterscotch budino with salted caramel. All my dreams were coming true because I was NOT on a diet this time. Hallelujah!

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    I literally savored every single bite of the creamy custard and decadent homemade caramel. I literally went to the grocery store on the way home to try to replicate it at home. I couldn't wait to share it with my family and my Modern Honey readers.

    I played around with the custard until it was perfection.  This may be one of my favorite desserts of all time.  It is such a comforting dish and I want to eat an entire bowl of it.

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    So what is a budino? So glad you asked. Budino is a sweet Italian dish, usually rich and creamy like a custard or pudding. This is a handcrafted butterscotch pudding made with butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, egg yolks, and vanilla....basically the GOOD stuff. It is topped with a slow-cooked homemade salted caramel, which completely melts in your mouth.

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    This dessert is so beautiful to serve in small jars, parfait glasses, or glass dessert bowls and is perfect to serve at parties, weddings, showers, or when you just want to impress some people. Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel is one impressive dessert!

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    So how do you make a perfect butterscotch budino? It all starts with making a creamy custard. To change up a classic vanilla custard, we are using brown sugar and butter to give it the rich butterscotch flavor. A mix of whole milk and heavy cream gives it a creamy texture.  The egg yolks add richness to the custard.

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    Homemade salted caramel is made with butter, sugar, heavy cream, and sea salt. It tops the decadent butterscotch budino and is the perfect accompaniment to the creamy custard. The key to making homemade caramel is to watch it like a hawk. Homemade caramel can go from perfect to burned within seconds. This is such a simple recipe using only four ingredients.

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.com

    Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel

    Melissa Stadler, Modern Honey
    Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel is a layered dessert with a rich creamy custard and a handcrafted salted caramel sauce.
    4.67 from 12 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 40 mins
    Total Time 50 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Italian
    Servings 6

    Ingredients
      

    Butterscotch Budino Custard:

    • 3 Tablespoons Salted Butter
    • 1 cup Brown Sugar
    • ¼ cup Cornstarch
    • 1 cup Heavy Cream
    • 2 cups Whole Milk
    • 3 Egg Yolks
    • 2 teaspoons Vanilla or 1 Vanilla Bean

    Homemade Salted Caramel:

    • 1 cup Sugar
    • ½ cup Butter
    • ½ cup Heavy Cream
    • ¼ teaspoons Sea Salt (plus more for the top of caramel)

    Instructions
     

    To make Butterscotch Budino Custard:

    • In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and keep stirring until the brown sugar and butter are completely melted.
    • Stir in cornstarch. Add heavy cream and whole milk.
    • Bring to a slow rolling boil and let thicken. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
    • While the milk mixture is cooking, place egg yolks in small bowl. Temper egg yolks by spooning a small amount of hot milk into the bowl. Use a whisk and keep stirring. Pour the mixture back into the pot.
    • Bring it back to a boil for 1 minute.
    • Add vanilla extract or vanilla bean.
    • Let chill in refrigerator and cool completely. If you want to expedite the cooling process, put in an ice bath.

    How to make salted caramel:

    • Two Methods:
    • In a medium saucepan, heat sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly.
    • The sugar will begin to form clumps and will turn into an amber color. Keep stirring. Watch carefully as the sugar can easily burn.
    • Once sugar is completely melted, add the butter. The butter will bubble so be careful.
    • Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted. Use a whisk to stir the sugar and butter.
    • Drizzle the heavy cream into mixture and stir.
    • Let it boil for 1-2 minutes.
    • Remove from heat and stir in sea salt. Let set up.
    • EASIER METHOD:
    • Melt butter and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Let melt and stir with wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Keep stirring and cooking until it turns an amber color. Watch it carefully. Stir in heavy cream and sea salt. Boil for 1 minute and let set up.
    • To make layered dessert:
    • Layer butterscotch custard and top with salted caramel.
    Keyword budino
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    Butterscotch Budino or Custard Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel. A layered butterscotch custard dessert with handcrafted salted caramel. www.modernhoney.comI can't wait to hear what you think of this decadent dessert. It is downright heavenly! Come find me on instagram at @modern_honey. Happy Baking!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sophie

      February 05, 2023 at 9:32 am

      5 stars
      Love this pudding. It’s relatively simple but make sure you have things measured out ahead of time so you’re not trying to frantically measure while your mixture bubbles on the stove. Also might be obvious but make sure you REALLY temper the eggs so they’re basically almost hot instead of just warm. I added mine too quickly I think and my budino had some tiny lumps in it. Still delicious but not as smooth. I also found it was really tasty when it was still warm! I recommend putting it in the jars to set, if you leave it in the pot it’ll from a film on top. And lastly, if you’re like me and worried about the caramel, I just used Ghirardelli caramel sauce and it paired perfectly!

      Reply
    2. Lisa

      November 27, 2022 at 6:07 pm

      Hi, Canada doesn’t sell whole milk, what can substitute it for?

      Reply
      • Stephen

        December 23, 2022 at 3:33 pm

        I believe it’s Homogonized Milk (homo milk) in Canada. Check the label, but it should say the fat content - 3.25-3.5%

        Reply
    3. Angie

      October 06, 2022 at 7:49 am

      Can this be made ahead of time if I need it for a party the next night ?

      Reply
      • Ruthie

        October 20, 2022 at 8:34 pm

        Absolutely!

        Reply
        • Marissa

          October 26, 2022 at 5:47 pm

          How many ounces are the glass jars?

          Reply
    4. Nat

      January 02, 2022 at 7:10 pm

      4 stars
      The pudding part was fantastic and so easy, but the caramel topping was stiff and hard, not a “sauce” at all —- what did I do wrong?

      Reply
      • Ruthie

        October 20, 2022 at 8:33 pm

        HI Nat, either you cooked the sugar too long, or -- more likely just didn't add anough cream. I don't use the final step of this recipe, of boiling an additional minute or two after stirring in the cream. You can test how thick the caramel is by dropping a few drops into a glass of cold water. Add more cream to make it thinner, cook it longer to make it thicker.

        Reply
    5. Megan Lawrence

      July 10, 2021 at 11:50 pm

      5 stars
      Made this last weekend - to great accolades. It's very rich and sweet, so better suited to more smaller servings.

      Reply
    6. Megan

      March 14, 2021 at 11:49 am

      Now this sounds like my kind of dessert. I've just printed it out - next time I make pavlova or meringues, this is what I'm making with the leftover egg yolks.

      Reply
    7. Hannah

      January 07, 2021 at 8:12 am

      5 stars
      Easy to make and SO delicious! Everything turned out perfect and I can't wait to host dinner parties with this as the dessert!

      Reply
    8. Donna A Pollock

      December 21, 2020 at 11:24 am

      5 stars
      Oh My Melissa, This looks so delicious. I can't wait to make this one. I love it just as it is on your Photo. How do you stay so thin making all these delicious desserts? I will let you know where to send the Fire Dept. to come and cut me out of my house after eating all of these. LOL

      Reply
    9. Chris

      April 08, 2020 at 4:06 pm

      I’ve made the custard but mines brown like butterscotch color. Why doesn’t it look like the one in the picture. Is that a different type of custard? What do I change to get it to look like your picture?

      Reply
    10. Sandy

      January 05, 2020 at 8:18 pm

      4 stars
      Very tasty but sweet. My custard is brown not white, any one have any ideas?

      Reply
      • Em

        January 21, 2022 at 3:53 pm

        I think the difference in color is dark brown sugar vs light brown sugar.

        Reply
    11. Kate Zappa

      June 23, 2019 at 9:19 pm

      4 stars
      We love this recipe but don't do method 2 for the caramel! It hardened beyond to the consistency of Now and Laters making it very difficult to eat. Use method one and you'll be much happier with the results

      Reply
    12. Grace

      April 19, 2019 at 12:14 pm

      Good day. Please, for the salted caramel, do I use Brown sugar or white sugar please? It was not specify into the instruction, it just said, sugar so I would like to make sure as to what type of sugar please and thank you so much

      Reply
    13. Wendy

      December 06, 2018 at 8:06 am

      4 stars
      I made this yesterday and it was delicious! Just wanted to mention that when I was making the custard, the hot melted butter/brown sugar/corn starch mixture seized up and got hard when I added the cold heavy cream and milk. Eventually, it melted, but it definitely worried me for a while. Just in case others have the same experience, know that all is not lost! Just keep stirring!

      Reply
      • Courtney

        March 24, 2019 at 2:13 pm

        Thanks!!! This happened to me too! I thought it ruined it

        Reply
    14. Dorothy

      August 20, 2018 at 9:47 pm

      Hi! This looks delicious! Does 6 servings mean like 6 7oz Weck jars? Thanks!

      Reply
    15. Amy

      June 05, 2018 at 5:24 pm

      5 stars
      I was trying to recreate the butterscotch pudding from the Spike Africa’s now closed restaurant in San Diego. This recipe nailed it! The pudding was amazing! I think the caramel was a tad buttery for my taste, might try cutting back the butter a tad next time I make it and adding some bourbon in. I’d recommend first lightly coating the pudding with the butterscotch and adding more later if needed, it is super rich. This made double the caramel needed for the pudding....so next time I’ll just double the amount of pudding I make 🙂 Thank you so much for this recipe!!!

      Reply
    16. Stine Mari

      November 22, 2017 at 3:39 am

      My mouth literally watered when I saw this recipe, YUM.

      Reply
    17. Karly

      November 20, 2017 at 9:51 pm

      I am a TOTAL sucker for anything butterscotch- these look amazing! NEEEED to try soon!

      Reply
    18. Hillary

      October 15, 2017 at 9:38 pm

      Yes!! You recreated it! Can't wait to try!!

      Reply
      • Modern Honey

        October 17, 2017 at 3:17 pm

        5 stars
        Hi Hillary! I hope you LOVE it. We are obsessed over here with it! 🙂

        Reply
        • Diane

          April 10, 2022 at 8:44 am

          5 stars
          It was amazing. Loved this desert. Juts wondering where I could buy the same little glasses that you see. Liked on Amazon and can’t find them or anywhere else. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

          Reply
    19. Nancy Blue

      October 15, 2017 at 8:45 pm

      All I can say is yum! I can't wait to try this. Thanks 🙂

      Reply
      • Modern Honey

        October 17, 2017 at 3:16 pm

        5 stars
        Hi Nancy! It's a GOOD one! We love this dessert in our house. I hope you love it too.

        Reply
        • Sarah

          April 30, 2019 at 10:22 am

          Do you let the custard set first before topping with the caramel?

          Reply

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    Melissa Stadler Modern Honey

    Hi, I'm Melissa Stadler! I am an Award-Winning Recipe Creator. Cover of Food Network Magazine. Two-Time Pillsbury Bake-Off Finalist. I am passionate about sharing the best recipes so you have success in the kitchen!

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