Scotch Butterscotch Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

Scotch Butterscotch Sauce With both butter and Scotch, this sauce is the real thing! It's infinitely better than the kind you buy in a jar, and it takes only about 10 minutes to make. Serve it over ice cream or over grilled pineapple slices or with both together, or as a dessert waffle topping, along with sliced bananas and chopped walnuts.

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons Scotch whisky
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, slowly bring the brown sugar, cream, butter, and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Boil gently, stirring often, until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Scotch and vanilla until blended.

Let cool slightly before using. (The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. Warm gently before serving.)

Short & Sweet
150 Sophisticated Desserts in No Time at All
By Melanie Barnard
Houghton Mifflin Company
Hardback, $25.00, May 1999
240 pages, 8 pages of color photographs
ISBN: 0-395-90145-6
Recipe Reprinted by permission.