About the Recipe
Every now and again, I will develop a recipe and forget about it in a way. I have made it a couple of times and then I have moved on, not because it isn't delicious but because my brain is always thinking about food and new recipes. Sometimes, this will simultaneously align with my friends or family making this dish many more times than I ever have. This pie is one of them. My friend BJ has made this pie way more than I have, so to me, this is his pie. It's a salty, buttery pretzel crust filled with butterscotch pudding, and topped with whipped cream. It is perfect for your next holiday dinner. Isn't this what cooking is all about? Creating memories at a table, over a meal or a slice of pie. Happy cooking!
Ingredients
Crust:
2C pretzels
6-7Tbsp butter, unsalted, melted + more for greasing pie dish
1/4C brown sugar
Butterscotch Pudding:
2/3C brown sugar
1 egg + 2 egg yolks
1C whole milk
1C heavy cream
2Tbsp cornstarch
3Tbsp butter, unsalted
1Tsp vanilla + 2Tsp scotch or rum OR 1Tbsp vanilla
Whipped Cream:
2C heavy cream
3Tbsp powdered sugar
1Tsp vanilla
Preparation
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To make the pie crust:
1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2: Grease a 9 inch pie dish with butter
3: In a food processor, pulse pretzels a couple of times to break them up
4: Add in 6Tbsp of melted butter and brown sugar and pulse to combine. If the mixture is too dry and you can’t form a clump in your hand, add an additional tablespoon of melted butter
5: Press the pretzel mixture into the pie dish, tightly packed forming a pie crust
6: Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the edges become golden
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To make the butterscotch pudding:
1: In a saute pan with high sides or a sauce pan, whisk together 1/4C water with brown sugar and salt, heat over medium high heat, until the sugar has dissolved and it has started to bubble
2: Slowly, drizzle in cream and then milk. The sugar will bubble and come up the pan, just keep gently whisking and slowly adding in cream and milk. Cook this mixture for a minute over medium heat.Â
3: In a bowl, combine egg and egg yolks with cornstarch. Whisk together.
4: Temper the egg by slowly ladling in 1C of the milk mixture and whisking the entire time, being careful not to scramble the egg. Add the egg mixture slowly back to the milk mixture in the pan, whisking constantly. Heat this mixture until it has thickened enough to coat a spoon. Whisk in scotch or rum + vanilla or larger amount of vanilla.
*TIP: if you find yourself with a mixture that looks like it is starting to curdle, take it off the heat and whisk in an ice cube at a time until it is smooth again.
5: Transfer mixture to the cooked and cooled pie crust, cover with plastic wrap to avoid film forming, and place in the oven to set. I prefer to cool overnight but 6 hours should set it.
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To make whipped cream:
1: Whisk together cream, vanilla, and powered sugar until firm peaks have formed. Only top the pie with whipped cream once you are ready to serve and it is chilled. Full disclosure, this is a lot of whipped cream.