Butterscotch and Hazelnut Pudding : Free and Easy Bake-Along #3

This is the first time that I've tried making pudding and it is an experience I will remember, or rather, I would not forget! For our third Bake-Along, Lena of Frozen Wing and Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids and myself, have decided to make Butterscotch and Hazelnut Pudding, so I was really looking forward to this. I was reading through the recipe and pictured this pudding as something like a steamed cake, with some butterscotch caramel as the topping, sounds yummy!

My six ramekin moulds could not fit into my square deep cake pan, only 5 could fit into it. Clever me, I checked! So I reduced the recipe to only 3/4 from the original. I made the butterscotch caramel and divide the caramel among the 5 ramekins, and place the ramekins in the square deep cake pan. Then I place the cake pan in the refrigerator, just as instructed. So far so good.

Next, I mixed the batter, took out the cake pan from the fridge and divide the batter among the 5 ramekins, about 3/4 full. There was some extra batter, enough for another ramekin and I thought that I would bake that as a mini cake instead, perfect to place next to the cake pan in the oven. So into a cute little cake pan, the extra batter goes. So far so good.

I then boiled some water in a small kettle and pour the boiling water into the cake pan where the 5 ramekins are placed. The water is not enough to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. So I turned away for half a minute to pour more boiling water into my little kettle. When I was about to continue on pouring the hot water into the cake pan, I noticed that my counter was wet! Oh no! The water was flowing out from the four bottom corners of the cake pan. Gosh! Gosh! Gosh! My baking pan has joint corners and the water is seeping out from these corners. Not so clever me now! Never thought about this! Quickly clean up the mess, careful, water is hot! Need to change to another baking pan with no joint corners! The one I had is smaller and can only fit in 4 ramekins. I need another smaller baking pan with no joint corners! Used my loaf pan and that can fit in two ramekins. Put the fifth ramekin in. The extra batter in the little baking pan could not fit into it! Urgh... So I scraped the batter from the cute little baking pan to the sixth empty ramekin. Place that into the loaf pan. Fill it with water, wrapped both pans with double-layers of aluminium foil. And finally into the oven! Never had this much fun baking in quite a while!  LOL!

 Baked them in the oven for about 45-50 minutes.

 Baked pudding just out from the oven.

 Turn it out into a serving plate. Looks kinda flat, doesn't it?

The butterscotch caramel seems tasty enough but it is a little too thick, I would have preferred it to be a little more runny. And it is a little too sweet for me! The pudding itself is moist and good. 

My kids enjoyed it thoroughly and have requested me to make this again! ???

We did finish all the six puddings in day one itself!

One good lesson learnt, never use baking pans with joint corners and fill them with water, especially if it is to be placed in the oven!  :)

Let's hop over to my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and see their Butterscotch and Hazelnut Pudding.

Butterscotch and Hazelnut Pudding
(adapted from Donna Hay Magazine, April-May 2011)
150gm butter, softened
2/3 cup (115gm)  brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
225gm plain all-purpose flour
50gm hazelnut meal (ground hazelnut)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (250ml) milk

1. Place the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until well combined. Divide the mixture between the ramekins (6 x 1cup capacity).
2. Place the pudding in a water bath. See *.
3. Cover tightly with 2 sheets aluminium foil and bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until the puddings are springy to the touch. Remove puddings from water bath and invert onto plates. Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream or cream, if desired. Makes 6.

Butterscotch Sauce

1 cup (175gm) brown sugar

60gm butter

1 cup (250ml) single (pouring) cream

Preheat oven to 170C (340F). To make the butterscotch sauce, place the sugar, butter and cream in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes or until thickened. Pour into a 1.75 litre-capacity baking dish and refrigerate. ( I use 6 ramekins)

* To make a water bath, place the puddings into a deep-sided baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. This will ensure the puddings are cooked evenly.