Butterscotch Pudding Shooters

• 1/2 cup packed, dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, salt and the egg yolk until combined.
2. To this mixture, add in 1/4 cup of the milk and whisk until combined. Next, add the remaining 1 1/4 cup of milk and the heavy cream into a medium sized pot and bring just to a boil.
3. Take a ladle full of the hot milk and slowly drizzle it into the sugar/cornstarch mixture in the bowl, while constantly stirring. You want to temper the egg yolk in the mixture so you don’t end up with scrambled egg.
4. Now add the rest of the milk mixture, constantly stirring until the mixture is smooth.
5. Next, pour the pudding mixture back into the pot, and over a medium-high heat, stir constantly until the mixture thickens. This should take about 3-4 minutes.
6. Remove the pudding from the heat and using a fine mesh sieve, (as to get out any lumps) strain the pudding back into the bowl.
7. Whisk in the butter until it’s all melted, and then whisk in the vanilla extract.
8. At this point you can serve the pudding warm as it’s totally awesome warm, or you can chill it to use for the shot glass desserts.
9. If you’re going to chill the pudding, place it in a shallow bowl, and press plastic wrap over the surface so that a skin will not form. Chill for an hour.

Makes 4 – 1/2 cup servings, or 6 shot glass desserts

For the gingersnap crumb crust:  In the bowl of a food processor (if you have a mini one that would be best) place 6 gingersnap cookies, 2 tablespoons of pecans and 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar. Process until you have crumbs. Set aside.

For the cinnamon spiced whipped cream:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh nutmeg (or powdered)

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat until stiff peaks form.

To assemble shot glass desserts: Spoon some pudding into the shot glass. Add a layer of crumbs using your finger to push the crumbs out to the edges of the glass so the next layer of pudding won’t seep through. Add another layer of pudding. Using a piping bag, pipe a swirl of whipped cream on top, and then sprinkle a dusting of crumbs on top of the whipped cream. Or, you can serve the pudding in a 1/2 cup dish with a dollop of the whipped cream and a sprinkling of the gingersnap crumb topping.