I call this recipe Quick Butterscotch Pie because it is an easy butterscotch pie recipe made with condensed milk and instant pudding mix. What's funny is it was originally kind of an afterthought pie. I made it because I was testing the best sugar to use in whipped cream and needed a pie to put it on. More on that later. Now a little about this pie!
A Quick and Easy Butterscotch Pie
The recipe is from the Eagle Brand Condensed Milk recipe collection, and while I assumed a butterscotch pie made with condensed milk would be good, I didn't realize it would be awesome! It's light, fluffy, and versatile. I made a butterscotch version, but it could just as well have been made with coconut, vanilla or maybe even banana pudding. Or how about pistachio? I'm bookmarking this for St. Patrick's, because I think swapping out the butterscotch pudding for pistachio and maybe adding a little almond extract would be a fun variation.
Cream Cheese Flavor
Another good thing about the pie is that the cream cheese isn't too noticeable. Normally I like cream cheese, but I didn't want a tangy flavor, I wanted a creamy butterscotch flavor. The cream cheese flavor takes a backseat to everything else and just adds some support.
Sugar in Whipped Cream
Now back to the whole thing that led me to make this pie. I’ve always sweetened my whipped cream with confectioners’ sugar, but some people feel it imparts a chalky texture and prefer granulated. Another thing I've always done is add the sugar at the end, when in reality you can add the sugar right along with the whipped cream. In fact, if you're using granulated you really need to so that it has enough time to dissolve from the friction of the beaters. So for this batch of whipped cream I used granulated and added it at the beginning
I did find that the cream took longer to whip, but it was smooth and delicious. As for how it held up (because another thing I assumed was that the cornstarch in confectioners' sugar was helping stabilize my whipped cream), it held up just fine with no weeping whatsoever. A factor that might play into that is that I always use “heavy whipping cream” as opposed to “heavy cream”. Cream with the word “whipping” in it usually has a stabilizer called carrageenan, and I think the carrageenan is what’s been keeping my whipped cream from weeping.
Final Verdict on the Pie
So along with being a learning experience, this pie was really delicious and I'm already looking forward to trying it in other flavors. Update: I have since made it with the pistachio and it's very good, especially if you incorporate some well-drained pineapple.
Recipe
Quick Butterscotch Pie or "Pick Your Flavor Pie"
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 sleeve graham crackers, finely ground to make 1 ½ cups crumbs
- ¼ cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted (preferably salted)
Filling
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 ounces softened cream cheese
- 14 oz can of Eagle Brand regular or light condensed milk
- 1 3.4 oz package butterscotch flavored instant pudding mix Make sure it's instant!
- ¾ cup water
Topping
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- Garnish: butterscotch sundae topping and chopped nuts
Instructions
- Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press into a 9-inch pie dish and bake at 375 for 7 minutes. Let cool completely.
- Beat the 8 oz of heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add the condensed milk and beat until smooth, then beat in the pudding mix and the water. Beat until smooth.
- With a rubber scraper, fold in the whipped cream. I've added a photo of the consistency. If you used instant pudding and cream cheese, it should be pretty thick. The photo shows green because I used pistachio.
- Transfer to the pie crust and chill for about 2 hours or until ready to serve.
- Meanwhile, combine the other 8 oz of heavy whipping cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar in a chilled mixing bowl (preferably metal). Beat until stiff peaks begin to form. Beat in vanilla. Pipe whipped cream around edges.
- Garnish with sundae topping and sprinkle edges with chopped nuts.
Anna says
Charlette, thank you so much for the kind review. Hope you are having a great week.
Charlette says
Made 2 of these for Easter and the reaction was crazy. I have demands for several. Must say I used 2 boxes of pudding mix for extreme butterscotch flavor. The fam went nuts for it.Thanks for the recipe.
Anna says
Jen, thanks for posting a review. I appreciate it. And I know what you mean about it not tasting "straight from the pudding box".
Jen says
I was skeptical of the filling recipe at first but this turned out awesome. What I love is that it yields a refined butterscotch flavor because of the cream cheese, condensed milk, etc...not the "straight from the pudding box" butterscorch flavor. Our boys loved it. I dialed up the wow factor by making an Oreo crust instead. Thank you for the recipe. It is a keeper for us!
Anna says
Ann, that's a good point. Luckily, the friction of the beaters worked just fine and the cream was smooth. However, if I'd had extra-fine sugar on hand I could have added it more towards the end and whipped the cream a little faster.
Ann says
Some stores carry an extra-fine sugar called baker's sugar, I believe by C & H. I use it for just this sort of thing, when granulated sugar might be too coarse. Of course, you could always give your regular sugar a whirl in the blender to break it down a bit - but not too much, because it'll become powdered sugar.
Ela says
I've never used granulated sugar in whipped cream, always powdered sugar. Thanks for the comparison, I'll try granulated sugar next time. You're pie looks delicious and nicely decorated on top.
Anna says
Thanks Dawn!
Linda, all the stuff I buy is ultra-pasteurized and seems to hold up really well. The only issue I have is some brands take a little longer to whip.
Linda says
Hi Anna, although I've never done a comparison, I've often read that heavy cream that is *not* ultra pasturized holds up better after it is whipped. That's what I always buy, but I can't vouch for whatever difference there might be in the stability.
vanillasugarblog says
anna that is one heavenly looking pie.
easy peasy to make too!