Creamy Dessert

Walking in the door from a long trip with a guest coming for dinner (and to spend the night) I wanted  a menu of make ahead, no fuss dishes so I could get dinner ready and still get in a little time to rest before serving. With peposo (the peppery Italian slow cooked beef in red wine) occupying the oven (for 6 hours) I decided on a stove top old fashioned dessert -- butterscotch pudding (based on a recipe by David Lebovitz). Besides, pudding is fairly easy to make in small batches so we wouldn't have too much hanging around after dinner.
First I melted 2 TB of butter and stirred in 1/2 cup brown sugar until well moistened and removed the pan from heat. In a separate bowl I mixed 1/4 cup of milk with 1 1/2 TB cornstarch until it was smooth and then mixed in one egg. Then I added both 1 cup milk and the cornstarch mixture into the brown sugar, returned the pan to heat, and while whisking constantly, brought the mixture just to a boil. After the pudding bubbled I turned the heat to a low simmer and cooked for a minute more until the pudding was thick (like hot fudge Lebovitz says). Off the heat I stirred in 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 heavy tsp bourbon (okay not quite scotch but I tend to cook with bourbon and there is always a bottle by the stove). Poured into mason jars these sweet little puddings waited in the fridge (firming up over four hours) until I topped them with whipped cream and -- my new favorite edible garnish, spiced figs.
The perfect make ahead dessert.