A popular San Francisco Bay Area restaurant had a menu filled with familiar, old-fashioned dishes, including a butterscotch pudding, served in sundae glasses and finished with whipped cream, that butterscotch fans swooned over. Butter and brown sugar are the flavors generally paired to make butterscotch, but this pudding had a depth that seemed almost unachievable through those ingredients alone. The flavor secret was butterscotch chips; there is no other way to attain that flavor. Based on that memory, here is a butterscotch pie of my own.
Makes one 9-inch pie
Basic All-American Pie Dough for a 9-inch pie shell (page 20)
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
2 cups (one 12-ounce bag) butterscotch morsels
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Meringue Topping (page 38)
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the dough and fit it into a 9-inch pie pan. Trim and flute the edges, then bake the pie shell fully, following the instructions on page 22. Cool completely before filling.
Combine the cream, milk, cornstarch, and salt in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan and whisk together to dissolve the cornstarch. Cook over moderate heat, whisking almost constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils, then reduce the heat and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks, then return to the heat and cook about 2 minutes longer, whisking all the while. Add the butterscotch morsels and stir just until they are melted. Remove from the heat, add the butter and vanilla, and stir until blended and smooth. Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, then spread evenly in the pie crust.
Preheat the broiler and position a rack so the top of the pie will be about 4 inches from the heat. Prepare the meringue topping as directed, then gently spread it over the butterscotch filling (which may still be warm), making sure it touches the edge of the crust all around. Broil for 1 or 2 minutes, until the peaks are browned. Cool before serving.