Why Did My Butterscotch Pots Not Set?

Asked by Nessa_27. Answered on 5th January 2018

Full question

I made the Butterscotch Pots from At My Table but they did not set. I made 4 portions so I doubled all the ingredients. What did I do wrong? The colour of the initial butterscotch (sugar and butter mixture) seemed right before I added the cream. I did have a big lump when I added the cream but as per instructions, I put back on a low heat and kept stirring until it melted. Help!

Butterscotch Pots

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Butterscotch Pots (from AT MY TABLE) is a caramel-flavoured chilled custard pudding. The mixture is thickened with a mixture of cornflour (cornstarch) and egg yolk and the thickness should not be affected by the way the butterscotch is made.

We suspect that the butterscotch, milk, cornstarch and egg mixture was not quite cooked for long enough for the mixture to thicken. Although the mixure contains egg yolks it does not usually curdle when heated, as the cornflour helps to stabilise it. You should cook the mixture over a medium to medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and becomes custard-like, it should thickly coat the back of a spoon. This should only take a minute or two but can vary according to pan size and the heat under the pan. The mixture will thicken more as it cools, to give a thick, spoonable consistency.