50 Women Game Changers in Food - #23 Nancy Silverton - Butterscotch Budino

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Nancy Silverton, founder of Campanile restaurant and the famous La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles, has recently partnered with Mario Batali and Joe Batianich in a venture that led to the creation of two new restaurants, Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. Her eighth book, The Mozza Cookbook, was also published this fall. She was raised in Encino, California and attended Sonoma State College before dropping out to attend Le Cordon Bleu in London. She returned to California and began her career in the pastry kitchen of Michael's restaurant in Santa Monica. She perfected her pastry skills when she returned to Europe to study at the Lenotre Culinary Institute in France. When she returned to the United States she became the head pastry chef at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Spago. She left Spago to open her own restaurant, Campanile, but in the process found she was unable to find a source for the type of bread she had tasted and learned to make in Europe. To fill that need, she began to teach the art of sourdough bread baking and went on to establish the reknowned La Brea Bakery. She sold the bakery for 6 million dollars, but lost all of it in when the Madoff Ponzi scheme unraveled. As resilient as the spores in her sourdough, she has moved on to partner in the "Mozza" restaurants and continues to write and teach. She is completely deserving of the position she's earned on the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game-Changers in Food. I have a great deal of admiration for this woman and I was a bit nonplused when the time came to pick a recipe to showcase her work. I toyed with the idea of making bread, but when I saw and tested her recipe for Butterscotch Bodino the game plan changed. Her breads are wonderful, but this signature pudding will make your socks go up and down. It is sublime. I really hope you'll try it. Here's the recipe.

Butterscotch Budino with Caramel Sauce and Whipped Crème Fraîche...from the kitchen of One perfect Bite courtesy of Nancy Silverton

Ingredients:
Budino
3 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup + 2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 tablespoons dark rum
Caramel Sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
Scrapings from 1-inch piece of vanilla bean, or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons water
Whipped Crème Fraîche
1-1/4 teaspoons fleur de sel
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup crème fraîche

Directions:
1) To make budino: Combine cream and milk in bowl or pitcher, set aside. Whisk egg, egg yolks and cornstarch in medium bowl, set aside. Combine brown sugar, kosher salt and 1/2 cup water in pot. Place over medium-high heat and let sit without stirring until edges start to brown. Tilt pot as needed to assure even browning. Cook until mixture is a deep dark brown, smells nutty and is caramelized, about 10 minutes. Immediately whisk in cream mixture, mixture will steam and caramel will seize. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Whisk caramel cream, a cup at a time, into egg mixture until half of it is incorporated. Remove from heat, and immediately whisk egg mixture back into pot until custard is very thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in butter and rum. Pass through a fine mesh strainer and divide among 10 (6-ounce) ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap, allow to cool, and refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours or up to 3 days.
2) To make caramel sauce: Combine cream and vanilla in medium saucepan. Heat until simmering. Add butter and remove from heat; set aside. Combine corn syrup and sugar in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Add enough water to make a wet sandy mixture. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture is medium amber in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully whisk in cream mixture; set aside and let cool. (May be refrigerated and reheated before serving.)
3) To make cream topping: Whisk heavy cream in a large bowl until it begins to thicken. Add crème fraîche and whisk until thick and fluffy. To serve, spoon a tablespoon of warm caramel sauce over each budino. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon fleur de sel, and add a dollop of cream topping. Yield: 10 servings.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Nancy Silverton today. I hope you'll visit all of them. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.


Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey, Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets, Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Kathleen - Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen, Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts, Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green,Jeanette - Healthy Living
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda, Linda A - There and Back Again
Martha - Lines from Linderhof, Nancy - Picadillo
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen
Annie - Most Lovely Things

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Paula Deen. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, November 14th.