No-Bake Butterscotch Custards Recipe (2024)

Any good subs for creme fraiche?

Please be kind and understanding. Asking about substitutes is a reasonable thing as the pandemic is still disrupting supply chains. Further, many people are avoiding going to the grocery for one or two items to keep their virus exposure as low as practicable. I don’t want to miss out on the pleasure of a new recipe because I lack a single ingredient. Cooking is chemistry, and it’s reasonable to ask what else gives the same or similar result.

I see in "substitutions" : "Creamy Dairy Products -Tangy, textural ingredients like crema, crème fraîche, mascarpone, Neufchâtel, Quark, queso fresco, sour cream or yogurt of any variety can be used interchangeably."

Thank you, Melissa! I’m a huge fan of yours and appreciate your work to help us entertain safely. I’m a nurse and when I am cooking for others, I wear a mask so as not to breathe on the food.

Mix one quarter cup of whole milk yogurt with a cup of heavy cream. It usually takes about 6 hours to thicken, though I like to wait 24 hours. Refrigerating it will slow it down, but not stop it altogether. Just make sure your yogurt says live cultures.Doesn't work with light cream or half and half.

A similar Melissa Clark recipe, No-Bake Lemon Custards, is one of my favorites. A skin does not form on the top when the custards are refrigerated uncovered.

A simple lovely recipe. I followed it exactly, had no problems with the custard not setting. Use the molasses! We had it with a little unsweetened whipped cream and a spoonful of macerated diced strawberries. (That idea plays off the affinity of strawberries for brown sugar and sour cream.) it’s quite rich, so small portions (6 servings) are best, I think.

Mexican cream, is the best substitution for crème fraîche. And now you find it in almost every supermarket.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is being strained? And what happens if one doesn't. Seems like it would be delicious regardless.

Like many the pudding didn’t set on my first attempt, despite following all ingredients and steps exactly. Upon reading others advice, I increased the vigor of the simmer to a mild boil and increased the time to 10 minutes until I had the consistency of a very creamy caramel which set perfectly. I think the key is to think about this as making a creamy caramel vs a creamy pudding.

I want to to make this, but I’d like to see a definitive response from the NYT cook or editor to all the comments about the custard not setting. I can fiddle and experiment, but would rather not waste time and ingredients. Thanks much.

Next time cook as described but omit Creme Fraiche, then stir in the yogurt. I have good luck with this as long as the yogurt is added off heat.

Melissa - WHY did you give up your videos? Step 2 is a good example of how impossible to understand this receipe is for a 70+ year old still learning to cook. What is a 'Vigarous simmer"; what does "until the mixture thickness" MEAN. Easy to see in a video. Probably understandable by my wife who cooked for me most of our married life and thousands of others. But for me the videos really helped me get started. What a wonderful smell! Reminds me of my youth.

I've made this twice with excellent results. The key is to cook it long enough. A "vigorous simmer" is a low boil and you need to keep it at the low boil for at least 7 minutes--I've cooked it longer. It is rich, sweet and densely caramel, and goes well in small servings with a large heap of berries on top.

For questions about substitutions, if you click on Ingredient Substitution Guide at bottom of Ingredients column, several interchangeable ingredients are listed, including sour cream and yogurt.

Outstanding. Set beautifully. Used dark molasses. Served with berries and whipped cream.

Like many here, I found this cloyingly sweet. 12 minutes of cooking and it set perfectly, though.

Based on previous comments, I did more like a gentle boil for close to 10 minutes. During that time it got noticeably thicker and darker (definitely darker than the pic). Substituted a 1 tsp dark rum for 1 tsp of vanilla and definitely used the molasses. During the 20 minute cool down I occasionally whisked it. Not sure if a skin would have developed but I was not taking my chances on having to strain something (!). The end product was nuanced, delicious, silky, and did set up.

Used regular sour cream and light brown sugar. Doubled the salt and simmered, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes (~200 on the candy thermometer). After adding molasses, vanilla, and - secret ingredient - a touch of cinnamon, poured into 1-oz. shot glasses (didn't require straining) and they started setting up before I even got them into the fridge. I didn't find this too sweet at all. A few bacon crumbles on top wouldn't be out of place here. Thanks for this interesting recipe!

This is an easy and very delicious dessert. Wonderful with fresh berries. Thank you, Melissa!

I made this! I am a novice cook, and I made it, thanks to the comments here, successfully! I cooked at. Low boil for about 17 minutes, and it turned out well. Thanks y’all! And don’t be intimidated - you can do it!

Delicious. Cook for twice as long as suggested, stirring constantly. Let set for a few hours in fridge. Butterscotch flavor is really fabulous. Served with whipped cream and berries. You only need small servings because its rich. Dinner guests loved it.

I made this tonight, and, sadly, thought it was inedibly sweet. We followed the recipe exactly and it set up fine after less than three hours, but the flavor was off the charts sweet and no one could eat it. If I made it again, I would use half as much brown sugar (or maybe less).

Creme Fraiche starter is available on the great shipping river. $10 for three packets. All you need otherwise is heavy cream and a thermometer.

Let me make my observations as well. I made it and is set beautifully overnight to a degree that it would not fall even with the ramekins flipped upside down. However, I used only half the sugar the recipe asked for and upon tasting it, I realized there’s not enough acidity for it to set, so I added the juice from half a lime, like around one tablespoon and a half. This had the advantage of balancing not only the acidity but also the taste which was too sweet even with the reduced sugar.

Do these have to go in individual ramekins? Or is one big bowl okay?

I have a recipe for a lemon posset from American Test Kitchens which is devine; so I'm always open to a new flavor. What works with this recipe is that it's not overly sweet. Overall, I found that the flavor did not wow me. Also there is a small amount at the bottom of the ramekin that never set and for which I have no earthly clue as to why it didn't.

Leave out up to 3 days? Any worries about souring or curdling? We’ve just come out of a heat wave and I put everything in the fridge that would fit!

I used crema instead of crème fraîche. Cooked it for 10 to 12 min, it thickened well and set perfectly the same day.

I’m wondering if this would make a good ice cream base