I was craving homemade dessert pretty hard core this week. I think I've read/looked at one too many Christmas cookie articles/slideshows. Seeing as Tim and I have not yet procured an oven for our Jakarta apartment, homemade baked goods were out of the question... I needed a stove-top treat. After thinking about what ingredients I had around the house and doing some googling, I settled on pudding. Low and behold, I was already in possession of all the necessary components for the drool-inducing caramel pudding I saw on Smitten Kitchen and then again on Joy the Baker.
 |
| Lame photo, I know. But this pudding is delicious. |
Why I decided to tackle a caramel recipe when I only have bare bones kitchen equipment is beyond me. But it ended up working out nonetheless, whisk or no whisk. Fork to the rescue! I was slightly concerned (read: panicked) when the caramel seized up after adding the milk, turning into a rock hard ball of sugar candy, but after some heating and coaxing it relaxed back into the milk mixture.
My only regret is that I wish I had let the sugar caramelize a little bit more before adding in the milk. Deb called for cooking the sugar until a "deep amber" color was achieved. I'd say mine was more like a "pale gold" when I totally chickened out and took it off the heat, making my final pudding product much lighter in color and flavor than Deb or Joy's. But still totally delicious!