Butterscotch can be made with a variety of ingredients, including brown sugar, butter, cream, and vanilla. It can be used as a filling, topping, or pudding and can be made with or without eggs. Imitation butterscotch flavoring can also be used.
There really isn’t one specific recipe for butterscotch, partly because the definition of butterscotch is confusing and partly because many recipes refer to a number of ingredient combinations as butterscotch. In general, butterscotch is a creamy base — whipped cream, yogurt, creme fraise, milk, or pudding — that has real butterscotch added to it or is flavored with artificial butterscotch or brown sugar. It is often used as a filling for pies, toppings for pastries or cupcakes, or as a pudding on its own. The cream can be a simple blend of premade ingredients or it can be similar to a custard, made up of only the most basic ingredients.
One of the more commonly accepted recipes for making butterscotch involves cooking brown sugar together with butter and other ingredients, such as vanilla and cream. Most often, the taste of butterscotch is defined as that of cooked brown sugar. This has led to some butterscotch recipes that consist of just heavy cream, brown sugar, and a little vanilla.
A very simple and convenient way to make butterscotch cream is to use imitation butterscotch flavoring. The flavoring, which is usually sold in liquid form, can be incorporated into a thicker base like whipped cream or yogurt. This creates a flavored topping or pudding that has a distinct caramel flavor.
A cooked version of butterscotch can be made by heating the milk or cream in a double boiler before adding brown sugar, salt and a little flour and cooking the mixture until smooth. Whole eggs or egg yolks are then added and the cream is cooked until thick. After it is removed from the heat, butter and vanilla are added to round out the butter. This can then be used as a filling for a pie or it can be set and eaten as a pudding.
A similar cooked version of butterscotch cream can be made with milk and no eggs to create a thick but flowy cream sauce. This sauce can be used to garnish ice cream or as a glaze for the top of a cake or fruit. The cream can also be used as a homemade flavoring when added to a thicker base.
Some variations of butterscotch cream can be made using just brown sugar and some other substance that has a rich, buttery flavor. These can include cream cheese, mascarpone and buttercream frosting. Crumbled brown sugar can be incorporated into these bases, creating a thick cream that doesn’t have the same depth of flavor as true butterscotch but still carries its name in some recipes.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
