Butterscotch is another form of comfort food that evokes strong memories of childhood for me.  For some it might be butterscotch tart that brings back a wistful smile.  In my case it is my grandad, who was for many years bedridden with gout but who used to tell me stories of the first world war (but strangely not of death and killing), of being in Russia and France, of how he got blind drunk before the crossing, of the black bread, and how he won the Military Cross.

While we talked he would always offer me a butterscotch sweet, which had a wonderfully warm, soft, creamy, buttery flavour.  Not quite toffee and subtly different to caramel, but meltingly delicious at all times.

Not quite sure what reminded me of this delicacy, but I knew I had to make some.  Started to research recipes, and came to several conclusions rapidly: they all include brown sugar and butter, but some are radically different to others by the other ingredients included; but whichever one you followed, there would be ten zillion calories.  That said, they all looked pretty simple and versatile. You can make butterscotch sauce, tart, pie, candy, cookies, sundae, you name it!

In the end I followed the BBC recipe, which I’m pleased to say made an excellent, smooth hot butterscotch sauce for vanilla ice cream, which lashings left over for another day.  Stored in the fridge, it sets nicely and can be used in any dish requiring toffee – would make an excellent topping to cheesecake, for example! 🙂