Butterscotch Pudding

I had leftover egg yolks* (and you know how I hate to have leftover whites or yolks) so I was on a quest to find a use for them. I had to adapt because most of the pudding recipes I found wanted either 6 yolks (if I went with this, then I would have extra whites - it could never end!) or whole eggs. So off adapting I went...

Butterscotch Pudding (Adapted from David Lebovitz)

4T butter
1 c brown sugar
3/4 t salt
3 T cornstarch
2 1/2 c milk
3 egg yolks
2 t whiskey or bourbon
1 t vanilla

Whisk together in a small bowl cornstarch with 1/4 c milk until smooth. Then whisk in egg yolks.  Set aside. Melt butter in sauce pan and add brown sugar and salt. Stir until sugar is well moistened. Remove from heat. Gradually pour in remaining milk to butter/sugar mixture - whisking non-stop. Whisk in cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Once it begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 minute (or until the pudding thickens to the consistency of hot fudge). Remove from heat and stir in whisky and vanilla. Pour into serving bowl and cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap. Chill at least 4 hours.

I used smoked maple bourbon. I was worried it might take over the flavor of the butterscotch, but it didn't. If you don't have extra egg yolks like I did, feel free to use the 2 eggs instead that were in the original recipe. Make this - you'll thank me.

*more on where the extra yolks came from on another day