Hot chocolate is synonymous with the winter season, but consider this recipe a good case for giving hot butterscotch pride of place in your holiday beverage repertoire. Adapted from Michelle Polzine’s Baking at the 20th Century Cafe cookbook, it’s a rich, bittersweet dream of a drink. Sip it, dunk some cookies into it, or simply hold a warm mug of it between your hands and feel thankful for your good fortune.
Hot Butterscotch Recipe
Adapted from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons packed light muscovado sugar
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons heavy cream
4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons good-quality dark rum (optional)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions:
Step 1: Put the butter, light muscovado sugar, and dark brown sugar in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook and stir with a wooden spoon or heat proof spatula until the mixture begins to turn dark brown on the bottom of the pan and it smells like creme brulee, about 3 minutes. An instant read thermometer will register 300 degrees, or very slightly above.
Step 2: Remove from the heat and very carefully whisk in the water to stop the cooking, the mixture will create steam and bubble furiously, so stand back and be careful to not splash yourself. Whisk in the cream, and then the milk, rum ( if using), and salt. Gently reheat over low heat, stirring frequently (the acid in the sugars will cause the mixture to break if overheated). Drink right away, or pour into a Thermos for sipping later.
Note: The hot butterscotch drink can be made ahead, cooled, transferred to a lidded container, and refrigerated for up to 5 days. Reheat as instructed in step 2 above.
Dina Ávila is a photographer living in Portland, Oregon.
Recipe tested by Ivy Manning
Excerpted from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2020.
