Calling all custard lovers, if you haven’t before, then you must try this Crème Anglaise! Smooth, creamy, and ready in less than 30 minutes- pure heaven.
If you haven’t heard of Crème Anglaise you are in for an absolutely delicious treat! This is light, creamy and the perfect sauce to use on other desserts.
This recipe is so versatile! I like to dip cookies or fruit into it and pour it over cakes, souffles, pies and more. Crème Anglaise is always a hit and I would know, I’ve been serving it for years.
I love how simple this sauce is to make and that it is ready in less than a half hour. It’s perfect for when we get last minute company and I want to serve something sweet to go over any dessert that we have on hand.
Whip this up and grab anything dippable from the pantry or the refrigerator and, boom, unique dessert dip ready to go. Or the traditional sauce to pour over anything anything you have on hand.
Some of our favorite recipes that this would go perfect with that we have on our site include: Berry Ricotta Cake, Angel Food Cake and Bread Pudding.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Ready in under a half hour.
- So incredibly versatile – pour it on anything, dip everything in it
- You only need a handful of ingredients, most if not all you probably already have
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Whole vanilla bean
Heavy cream
Whole milk
Egg yolks
Granulated sugar
Pinch fine sea salt
HOW TO MAKE CRÉME ANGLAISE, STEP BY STEP:
- Cut the vanilla bean in half, then cut it down the middle lengthwise to expose the inside seeds. Using the back of the knife, run it along the inside of the bean to scrape off the seeds. Add them to a small saucepan along with the empty pod.
- Pour the heavy cream and milk into the pot with the vanilla. Place it over medium-low heat, and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- While the liquid is coming to a simmer, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl until they become pale yellow in color, and the mixture starts to thicken.
- Once the liquid comes to a simmer, take it off the heat and discard the vanilla pods.
- Take a ladle and very slowly stream the hot liquid into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly and fast. Continue doing this until all of the liquid is added to the bowl.
- Pour the mixture back into the pot and place over medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens. It will coat the back of a spoon. When you (carefully!) run your finger across the back of the spoon, the liquid will stay put and not run.
- Take off the heat and strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Allow it to come to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to use.
WHERE DOES CRÉME ANGLAISE COME FROM?
This is a French dessert, Crème Anglaise actually translates to “English Cream”, which is great because this is a smooth custard-like sauce or dessert.
This is most used as a pouring dessert, but can also be used as a gread dipping sauce for some of your favorite sweets like berries and cookies.
DO I HAVE TO USE VANILLA BEANS?
We think this is the best with whole vanilla beans, but if you can’t find them, you can use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste instead.
This will change the recipe, in that you won’t add the substitution until you’ve pulled the mixture off of the heat completely. Add either substitution in step 7 once you have strainer the mixture since both the extract and paste contain alcohol.
You don’t add it in earlier while the mixture is cooking in the pot because most of the flavor of it will evaporate off because of the alcohol that it contains.
WHAT OTHER FLAVORS CAN I USE?
We love this sauce just how it is, but if you want to switch it up, try adding any of these extracts to flavor your treat, while keeping the vanilla, try these:
- Almond extract
- Strawberry extract
- Maple extract
- Peppermint extract
- Orange extract
HOW TO STORE:
Store your leftover Crème Anglaise in an airtight container in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 5 days.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t freeze well since it likes to separate when you defrost it, so we do not recommend trying to freeze.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- It’s important to remember that this will thicken as it cools.
- You can add other flavored extracts to change up this dessert, see my suggestions above.
- If using this sauce or dessert to feed a crowd, you can easily double this recipe.
- Be sure to store this in the refrigerator when you aren’t using it.
- This goes on so many things! Try serving it over cake or berries, over slices of pie, or any way you like. You can also serve it on ice cream or in place of whipped cream on other desserts.
- We do not recommend freezing.
- Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste can be substituted for the whole vanilla bean, see how to do that above.
Tired of searching for a new, different dessert to make for friends and family? Then you have to make this Crème Anglaise. If your family loves custard or custard like desserts, they’ll adore this!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this CRÉME ANGLAISE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Ingredients
- 1 whole vanilla bean
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- Pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cut the vanilla bean in half, then cut it down the middle lengthwise to expose the inside seeds. Using the back of the knife, run it along the inside of the bean to scrape off the seeds. Add them to a small saucepan along with the empty pod.
- Pour the heavy cream and milk into the pot with the vanilla. Place it over medium-low heat, and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- While the liquid is coming to a simmer, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl until they become pale yellow in color, and the mixture starts to thicken.
- Once the liquid comes to a simmer, take it off the heat and discard the vanilla pods.
- Take a ladle and very slowly stream the hot liquid into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly and fast. Continue doing this until all of the liquid is added to the bowl.
- Pour the mixture back into the pot and place over medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens. It will coat the back of a spoon. When you (carefully!) run your finger across the back of the spoon, the liquid will stay put and not run.
- Take off the heat and strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Allow it to come to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to use.
Notes
- It's important to remember that this will thicken as it cools.
- You can add other flavored extracts to change up this dessert, see my suggestions above.
- If using this sauce or dessert to feed a crowd, you can easily double this recipe.
- Be sure to store this in the refrigerator when you aren't using it.
- This goes on so many things! Try serving it over cake or berries, over slices of pie, or any way you like. You can also serve it on ice cream or in place of whipped cream on other desserts.
- We do not recommend freezing.
- Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste can be substituted for the whole vanilla bean, see how to do that above.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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