Crème anglaise (vanilla sauce) is a light pouring custard, perfect over desserts or fresh fruit. It’s made with a combination of sugar, egg yolks and hot milk/cream. I was surprised how fast this dessert sauce was to make– in less than 20 minutes! It’s perfect to pour over my homemade bread pudding recipe. I used fresh vanilla beans, but you can use pure vanilla extract as a substitute.
In my last post, I shared how I made the perfect Marmalade Bread Pudding, using my Instant Pot pressure cooker. I wanted a crème anglaise (vanilla sauce) to pour over the bread pudding, because that’s how I love it. I debated making a crème anglaise (fancy word for vanilla sauce) because I’ve never made one before (more on that at the end of the post). I decided to just go for it– and I was so pleased with how easy it came together and that the sauce was ready in far less time than I had imagined.
I tend to lean towards buying quality pure vanilla extract, for my baking needs. If I find a good price on vanilla beans (like I did at Costco), I’ll buy them and store them in an air-tight container. Like so many others, I wasn’t sure how to use a vanilla bean.
It’s not rocket science, I discovered! I just slit the bean open, scrape up the “caviar” and slip it into the milk mixture.
I used a combination of whole milk, half and half and some heavy cream. The vanilla bean looks like pepper doesn’t it? If you don’t have vanilla beans, you can use pure vanilla extract. One vanilla bean = 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract.
NOTE: This is not the time to try and cut calories by using low-fat milk/cream products. It just won’t work!
Don’t forget to toss in the vanilla pod!
I had to temper the hot vanilla-milk mixture into the egg yolks– the same as when I made the bread pudding custard. Carefully ladle the hot mixture into the egg yolks, whisking all the while. Then add the egg mixture into the pot of vanilla infused cream mixture.
This is where you have to pay close attention. Stir, stir, stir… and you’ll start to feel the mixture thicken. This should only take a few minutes– but don’t let the mixture come to a boil. (You don’t need corn starch for this recipe because we aren’t making pudding!)
It’s always a good idea to pour the mixture into a fine mesh sieve. As you can see, I had some “eggy” bits (I admit I took my eyes off the pot and the custard was definitely ready!) Don’t throw away the vanilla bean pod. Rinse and dry it, and place it into a jar of sugar– you have vanilla sugar (perfect for baking). There you have it– crème anglaise (vanilla sauce). Fool-proof!
I let the sauce cool in an ice bath, so I could pour it over the bread pudding dessert.
TASTING NOTES: The color of the crème anglaise (vanilla sauce) is a beautiful yellow because I’m lucky to have a neighbor who brings me eggs from their own chickens. The sauce was somewhat thin, but not like water. The vanilla flavor is mild, but definitely there. That is, it’s not overpowering. I didn’t find the sauce to be super sweet either. Leftover sauce was put into an air-tight jar and refrigerated.
The next day, the sauce was a lot thicker. No worries! I added a little bit of whole milk and used my immersion blender to thin it out again. Honestly, I spooned the thickened sauce on leftover bread pudding, microwaved it a bit and it all went down my gullet with pure enjoyment.
ONE MORE THING: Crème Anglaise (vanilla sauce) is a very close cousin to my ice cream custard base. Since I had leftover vanilla sauce, I simply thinned out the vanilla sauce with a little heavy cream, added strawberry puree and ran it through my ice cream maker. Voila! Delicious strawberry ice cream!
Crème Anglaise (Vanilla Sauce)
Ingredients
- 1 cup cream heavy cream or half and half, any combination
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar divided
- 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise and scraped, or 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extra
- 6 egg yolks
Instructions
Prepare an ice bath:
- In a large bowl, fill about halfway with lots of ice cubes. Nestle a smaller bowl inside. Set a fine mesh sieve over the bow. This will be used to strain and cool the custard.
Make the sauce:
- In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan add the cream, milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla pod and beans (or pure vanilla extract).
- Simmer the mixture over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble around the edge of the pan (about 2 minutes) Be careful not to let it boil. Remove from the heat and let stand for 20 minutes to allow the vanill flavor to infuse.
- In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks with remaining 1/4 cup of sugar in a medium bowl.
- Carefully and slowly, ladle some of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, all the while swiftly whisking to combine (tempering the eggs). Add another ladle of the infused milk to the eggs until the egg mixture is warm to the touch.
- Pour the tempered cream and egg mixture into the remaining cream in the saucepan, then return the pan to the heat.
- Continue to cook over medium heat while constantly stirring until the custard coats the back of a spoon, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Once the custard has thickened, remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl to remove any lumps and the vanilla pod.
- Place the custard in an ice bath to cool it down quickly and prevent overcooking.
- Once cooled, cover and store in the fridge in an airtight container for up 4 days. Serve with pies, crisps and cobblers.
Notes
Nutrition
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