Bourbon Butterscotch with Pecans

August 22, 2020

For a recent rainy Sunday lunch, I thought a decadent sauce would be just the thing to pull together the week’s assortment of dessert left-overs.I decided on a bourbon sauce, but not one that had just a whiff of bourbon: I wanted to really taste the bourbon, so I found a basic Food Network recipe: Southern Bourbon Sauce by Barbara Garrett. It called for 1/3 cup of bourbon and three other ingredients I also had on hand:

There was one cup of sugar in the mix, so I chose Bulleit for my sauce because it’s a high-rye mash bill--68% corn, 28% rye, and 4% malted barley-- and I felt the spiciness of the rye would balance the sugar. Bulleit’s known as a good value bourbon, and though it’s smooth and delicious to drink neat, it seemed like a fine choice for this recipe. Also, at 90 proof, it’s on the light side, so even if we got chubby on this sauce, we didn’t have to worry about getting tipsy.

This sauce was a hit, whether eaten still warm from the bowl or at room temperature if you have a bit of self-control. The bourbon taste came through perfectly without being overpowering. This sauce disappeared quickly, so I made more, and over the week I found many uses for this delectable sauce (often enhanced with chopped toasted pecans on the side). We had it on a scrumptious pound cake, on French toast, on waffles, on top of store bought ice cream and drizzled into homemade vanilla ice cream. Soon I’ll fill crepes with it, spoon it on top of a bowl of berries, drizzle it on dessert pizzas, or—let’s be honest, kids—eat it, with a clean spoon, straight from the jar.

FOOD NETWORK’S SOUTHERN BOURBON SAUCE

By Barbara Garrett

Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 stick of butter (I used salted)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of bourbon whiskey, to taste. (I used Bulleit Frontier Whiskey.)

Directions:

1. With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks until thick and pale.

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter and sugar. (I suggest adding a pinch of salt if your butter is unsalted.)

3. Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the egg yolks, beating constantly with the mixer until well thickened.*

4. Stir in bourbon by hand

La Bourbonessa, Barbara Chapman