Creme Anglaise
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Silky, versatile, and the very soul of elegance, crème anglaise is the undisputed foundation of the patisserie world. More than just a custard, it's the essential base for classic ice creams, airy mousses, and the dreamy Floating Island. But what's the secret? Unlike its thicker cousin, crème pâtissière, this velouté-textured sauce contains no starch, making it a delicate dance of heat. It must never boil; instead, it is carefully "poached" to exactly 185ºF (85ºC) before being rapidly chilled to lock in its sublime texture. In this video, we guide you through the precise technique to master it. Remember, with such a simple recipe, ingredients are paramount: seek out the best whole milk, pasture-raised eggs, and real vanilla.
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Silky, versatile, and the very soul of elegance, crème anglaise is the undisputed foundation of the patisserie world...
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Milk vs Heavy Cream
- Depending on how you want to achieve the balance of flavor and richness, crème Anglaise, for a lighter, classic sauce: Use whole milk. For a silkier result: Use a combination, such as 2 parts whole milk to 1 part heavy cream. For a richer, more indulgent sauce: Use half & half.
Infuse Milk with Vanilla
- In a medium size saucepan, gather milk, heavy cream, one-third of the sugar and the split vanilla beans and scraped seeds. Heat liquid (it doesn't have to boil), give a good stir. Remove saucepan from the heat, put the lid on and let infuse for 20 minutes or longer.
Custard
- Place one large bowl and the sieve in the freezer. In the second bowl, beat the egg yolks with remaining sugar with the whisk.
- It does not have to be over beaten as often suggested.
- Bring the vanilla infused milk to a boil, and gradually pour it into the egg-sugar mixture whisking constantly. This is called: tempering.
- Pour the liquid back to the saucepan.
- Turn the heat back on medium, and cook custard to 185ºF/85ºC, stirring constantly.
- Immediately, remove custard from the heat and pass through a sieve over a frozen sieve and bowl. If it accidentally did boil and therefore has began to separate, use your immersion blender to fix it. Place custard over ice bath to cool quickly. Remove and save vanilla pods, rinse under water and allow them to dry. Homemade Vanilla Sugar.
Storage
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