When I was a kid I thought that butterscotch, like butter rum Life Savers, had something vaguely to do with alcohol. It seemed adult and slightly illicit, and I always wondered why it was perfectly O.K. to feed to children. Alas, it turns out that butterscotch, traditionally a mixture of brown sugar and butter, never did contain Scotch. While there is no definitive etymology of the word, theories range from scotch being a corruption of the word “scorch,” to the possibility that the candy came from Scotland (this one is dubious).
Wherever it came from, butterscotch is beloved in many forms, including candies and toffee, ice cream and ice cream toppings, and, of course, puddings and custards. I write about butterscotch custard with clove and black pepper in this week’s column. And just to pay homage to my inner child, I spiked it with Scotch. Because now that I’m a grown-up, I can.
Correction: February 26, 2012
An earlier version of this blog post contained a picture with an incorrect caption. The picture was of tapioca, not butterscotch custard.
