Crème Anglaise

This creamy, rich and elegant vanilla custard sauce is very versatile, absolutely delicious added on cake, pie, fresh fruit…in another words, can be added to anything you like.

Have you noticed that most of the pleasures in life are usually the simplest…as is the case of this crème anglaise.

– Have you ever had crème anglaise?

Well, I had the opportunity to try it a few times in French restaurants. I loved the richness and the creaminess of the sauce. I remember the first time I had the crème anglaise…it was served in a dessert called floating island dessert…I can assure you if I was not in a public place I would have licked the bowl clean…

– Is there any trick for such an elegant sauce?

No, it is mainly a thin custard with only a few ingredients. And the trick, if you want to call a trick is to avoid the sauce to curdle…by tempering the egg yolks.

– How should I serve this crème anglaise?

This sauce is so versatile…you can pour it over all kind of dessert, cakes, pies, tarts, souffles, fresh fruits (specially berries), the options are endless.

– Can I add other ingredients besides vanilla?

Absolutely, you can add rum, bourbon, brandy and liqueur, such as Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Cointreau or orange zest, lemon zest, mint, coffee…again, endless choices.

– Did I convinced you to give this crème anglaise a try?

This recipe was mainly adapted from Food Wishes…if you like a lighter version you can substitute the heavy cream with milk or mix milk with heavy cream whichever ratio you like.

Here is the recipe for what I did…

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

In a medium bowl whisk egg yolks, sugar and Grand Marnier until smooth paste.

In a small pan heat the heavy cream until almost boiling point, until small bubbles begin to appear around the edges of the pan. Carefully temper the yolks by pouring slowly the hot heavy cream to the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly.

Transfer the custard back to the pan and under low heat stir constantly until the custard thicken.

If necessary, pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer to remove any clumps.

Place the custard into a bowl and let it cool.

Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Good for up to one week in the refrigerator.

– More desserts recipe? Check these out…

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