When looking for something to top your baked goods, mix with seasonal fruit, or line a tart, crème anglaise is the perfect light custard sauce to go for. Other than being incredibly delicious, this six ingredient dish makes your people think that what they are eating is more sophisticated than what it is. Needing mostly pantry items, this can be prepared early in the day and be ready to finish any great dessert.
When making some of the English’s favorite sticky toffee pudding, I thought, why not add this to a department legend, pumpkin bread pudding. Not having the pumpkin most had been used to, I grabbed some heavily browned bananas as a substitute and made the recipe. My wife had been craving something other than the classic caramel to top it with so I switched it up and added crème anglaise. It elevated a humble dessert to decadent.
A few after the fire critiques: Use vanilla pods in place of vanilla extract when possible, elevates the flavor and adds the small specks of vanilla. I enjoy less sweet desserts so I use less sugar then most recipes so add a full ½ cup if you prefer. Speaking of sweet desserts, this recipe is steps away from ice cream base, just saying...
Fuel
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Cup Whole Milk
6 Egg Yolks
⅓ Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
½ tsp. Salt
Tools
Small Sauté Pot
Various Bowls
Fine Mesh Strainer
Whisk
Thermometer
Tactics
Place milk, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt into the small sauté pot and bring to a soft boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 15-20 minutes or up to a hour. Place in a bowl and reserve.
Fill a medium bowl with ice, sprinkle salt on top of ice (to increase chill factor), then set a smaller bowl on top. Ensure that the bowl is able to comfortably whisk 2+ cups of liquid.
Whisk yolks and sugar together in the small sauté pot until the sugar is dissolved and the color lightens. Place a quarter of the cream sauce in and mix to warm the yolks. Slowly stream in the remainder and whisk till combined. Return the pot over medium heat and whisk continuously until the cream thickens, continues to lighten in color, and reaches 180 degrees F. If you do not have a thermometer, you can use the back of a spoon, coat and then draw your finger across it; if the cream holds the break, it is done.
Remove from the heat and allow the cream to rest for a few minutes. Strain cream into the prepared small bowl on ice and stir frequently too cool. Allow it to come to room temperature, cover and chill a minimum of an hour but ideally overnight. Indulge!