Based in Manila, Philippines, Dessert Comes First is a chronicle of the food-obsessed food writer, Lori Baltazar. This website is all about desserts, restaurants, coffee, and the pleasures of homebaking. Read more about me Butterscotch pudding for a bad mood
Fri, September 23rd of 2005
3:30 pm
I was in such a bad mood yesterday, it wasn’t funny: I bit off the heads of everyone who spoke to me; driving around in my car, I took every honk from other motorists as a direct assault on my person; even my usual 5-kilometer run failed to flood my body with feel-good endorphins. By evening, I was convinced that the world was plotting against me.
Sometimes, there are obvious reasons for why I get into a bad mood; at other times, I just can’t say why I feel like crap. Yesterday was one of those days. I was as grouchy as a hippo with a hernia (paraphrasing Zazu in “The Lion King.”) Most men I know would label this kind of ambivalent mood swing as “PMS,” but no, it wasn’t that.
When I’m down and out of sorts, I make Butterscotch Pudding. The blending of butter, brown sugar, and cream has a way of lifting my spirit, making me feel sane again. My sister shops when she’s in a bad mood. I make butterscotch pudding.
Butterscotch pudding from the box, (and any other pudding for that matter), cannot be compared to that made from scratch. Pudding made from fresh ingredients and eaten hot off the stove has an intriguing complexity and flavor depth that lingers on the palate. One taste simply begs for the next.
Making butterscotch pudding is therapeutic: the constant stirring is almost trance-inducing, and as the pudding cooks and thickens, the smell of brown sugar marrying with the cream is intoxicating. There’s just nothing like it.
Pudding offers comfort and consolation. They are homey little things, best left unadorned and unembellished. Pudding is a blunt instrument of sweetness, and that’s how it should be. With pudding, there’s nothing better for calming me down and making me feel whole again.
It sure beats being an ornery ogre.
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Good therapy. I will try it next time.
[Reply]
Comment by Andrea — September 23, 2005 @ 5:22 pm
homemade butterscotch anything tops my list of favorite comfort foods. thanks for the photo — just imagining myself eating the pudding puts me in a better mood this morning
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Comment by Nancy — September 24, 2005 @ 12:02 am
I cant cook when Im in a really bad mood. I tried to cook dinner, and ended up throwing everything away, because the food tasted sooo baddd! Hahaha, but yr butterscotch pudding looks so good as usual! I like to cook and on some nice music too.. hehehehe soothing, and just be alone at home.
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Comment by sari — September 24, 2005 @ 3:33 pm
Even faster therapy if you go for the instant!
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Comment by mare — September 25, 2005 @ 1:50 pm
This sounds so yummy! Will try making it myself! Would you have any suggestions to make it sugar-free (or at least low-sugar)? The hubby’s on South Beach. Would appreciate it if you have some tips! =)
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Comment by jencc — September 25, 2005 @ 10:34 pm
Isn’t this how yema is also made?
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Comment by Kai — September 26, 2005 @ 1:45 pm
Mare-
I used to think that Jello butterscotch pudding was the best until I tried homemade. I couldn’t go back to instant again.
Kai-
Yes, this is how yema is made, and it uses a heck of a lot more egg yolks.
[Reply]
Comment by Lori — September 26, 2005 @ 3:11 pm
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keep up the good work on the blog, added you to my favs
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Comment by casinos — December 19, 2007 @ 11:51 pm
True, butterscotch is always a good friend
. You maybe want to try http://pudding.topicoo.com/ It has some great recipes too.
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Comment by Ian — February 11, 2009 @ 11:56 pm
Butterscotch pudding for a bad mood at Dessert Comes First – An obsession with dessert and other unabashed opinions of a food writer [email protected]
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Comment by Esmeralda — June 21, 2010 @ 10:28 am