Kitchen F#!% Ups

So far most everything from Baked has been delicious. Not always simple to make or without some sort of near disaster happening, but at least everything has tasted good. Until now.

My friend and co-worker Laura was in town for a day, so I decided that I’d make up these tarts. We both have a caramel obsession, and in my book butterscotch falls under the caramel umbrella.

The crust for these is rustic and oat-y. A good start. I made up the butterscotch pudding, adding a bit of scotch and butter at the end (because it’s a real butterscotch) and poured the pudding into the tart shells. I had a little taste. Hmm. Not great a little off. But I figured I’d still bring one in for Laura to try the next morning, maybe she could help me figure out what was wrong.

We found a moment during the flurry of the workday to pull out the two treats I had brought, a divine pear caramel ice cream, and the tarts. Which no longer tasted like slightly off butterscotch. They tasted much, much worse. Which is how they came to be known as Buttercrotch Pudding Tarts.

• Butterscotch Pudding Tarts (Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, p. 104)