Battle of The Butterscotch Pudding: Baratin vs Frank & Albert's

By Shannon Armour Wed., Aug. 29 2012 at 6:00 AM

Categories: Battle of the Dishes

See Also: Tastemakers 2012: Charleen Badman
See Also: S'Mores Smackdown: Frank & Albert's vs. Beckett's Table

The dessert that I hounded my mother for the most when I was a kid wasn't chocolate chip cookies or cake or even ice cream -- it was butterscotch pudding. The kind out of the box that took two minutes to make. Five-year-old me thought this was the absolute best thing on the face of the earth. So whenever I see butterscotch pudding on a menu, five-year-old me speaks up and has to order the golden brown, buttery dessert.

Which brings us to this week's battle. We found two Valley restaurants, Baratin and Frank & Albert's, that each have this childhood treat on their menus and we just couldn't resist eating them both.

So who makes a better butterscotch pudding? Let's find out!

Shannon Armour

In This Corner: Baratin

The Set Up: The baby sister of Scottsdale's FnB, this tiny art deco cafe features an everchanging menu of sandwiches and veggies created by Chef Charleen Badman. The one constant on the menu is dessert -- a small jar of butterscotch pudding.

The Good: Chef Charleen Badman puts a sophisticated spin on this classic dessert with browned butter and caramelized sugar flavors bursting out of a tiny Weck jelly jar. Fresh whipped cream on top adds a lightness to the thick custard and a dusting of fresh grated nutmeg ties the whole things together.

The Bad: There is very little wrong with this near-perfect dessert but for the sake of an argument, sometimes the pudding can be a little on the gritty side. We actually like the texture but we're sure there are others out there that may be turned off by this.