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Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)

Real custard or vanilla sauce consists of egg yolks beaten with sugar and cooked slowly in vanilla milk. It is the base or the accompaniment for many desserts.

341,444 23.9/5 for 49 ratings

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Last modified on: January 17^th 2018

For 175 g, you will need:

0 125 ml whole milk
1 ½ vanilla pod
2 2 egg yolks
3 20 g caster sugar
Total weight: 187 grams

Change these quantities to make: 175 g 350 g 700 g 1 kg 50 g

Change measures: Metric

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How long does it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
16 min.	15 min.	13 min.	44 min.

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 5 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #1

In a pan, pour 125 ml whole milk and add ½ vanilla pod.

Stage 2 - 5 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #2

Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave vanilla to infuse 10 minutes.

Stage 3 - 4 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #3

Put 2 egg yolks and 20 g caster sugar in a bowl.

Stage 4 - 2 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #4

And without delay mix well using a maryse.

Stage 5 - 3 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #5

Pour the hot milk onto the egg yolks + sugar and mix well.

Stage 6 - 2 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #6

Wash the pan, and pour the mixture back into it through a fine strainer to eliminate any small impurities which are left.

Stage 7 - 8 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #7

Put on medium heat, and cook while stirring continuously, scraping the bottom of the pan with a maryse or a spatula.

To start with you will notice that the mixture doesn't "glaze" the maryse or the spatula.

Stage 8

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #8

But when custard is cooked, it "glazes" the spatula. This happens after about 10 minutes.

Be careful during cooking: the custard should never boil, otherwise it will go lumpy... If unfortunately this happens to you, take off the heat immediately and mixer for a few seconds.

Stage 9

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #9

Other way to be sure of good texture, use a thermometer and stop cooking at 180-185°F (82-85°C), never more.

Stage 10 - 15 min.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #10

When ready, take off the heat and plunge the bottom into a little cold water (in the sink will do fine) to stop cooking, leave to cool, stirring from time to time.

Stage 11

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise) : Photo of step #11

When cold, your crème anglaise is ready.

Remarks

Your crème anglaise will be better if you use full-cream milk.

If you have too many egg whites, you can make meringues or financiers with them.

Keeping:

Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
303 Kcal or 1,269 Kj	13 gr	25 gr	17 gr
15 %	5 %	2 %	3 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
163 Kcal or 682 Kj	7 gr	13 gr	9 gr
8 %	3 %	1 %	1 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 175 g : 1.58 €

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Note : These prices are only approximate.

Some recipes that use this recipe

Confit of quinces in Macvin

In this simple recipe, the sliced quinces are gently stewed in Jura Macvin until melting and caramelized. Served with real custard, this gives a delightful contrast of flavour and colour.
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Norman flambéed apples

Apples sautéed in butter and sugar, then flambéed in Calvados (from Normandy) and served with real custard.
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This "classy restaurant" style dessert consists of a sort of dish made of caramelized brioche filled with a mix of pear compote and kiwi salad with vanilla, served surrounded by real custard (crème anglaise).
78,332 15/5 for 1 ratings 45 min.

Caramel semolina pudding with raisins

Semolina pudding, like rice pudding, is a throwback to another era – time to rediscover its delights! This is an updated version, with a caramel sauce and raisins. Its smooth, creamy texture comes from the custard added towards the end.
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See all recipes that use it

Source

From Gaston Lenôtre.

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Whole milk: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Coconut-vanilla cream for Elsa , Pistachio ice cream, Potimarron and celeriac autumn soup, Smoky potato and potimarron gratin, Peach and verbena feuilleté, ... All
	Caster sugar: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Oat shortbread biscuits, Tatin apples with mascarpone cream, Lime confectioner's custard (pastry cream), Blackcurrant, vanilla and lime verrine , Gravlax, ... All
	Egg yolk: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Chocolate eclairs, Eggs Comtoise, Blanquette of veal, Pain perdu, Maroilles cheese quiche, ... All
	Vanilla pod: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Confit Victoria pineapple with honey and spices, Pistachio confectioner's custard, Rum babas, Cannelés, Rice pudding (riz au lait), ... All

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Post your comment or question

Your 2 comments or questions on this recipe

This recipe is too much liquid for a macaroon filling, you should better use confectioner's custard.
Posted by jh may 6^th 2012 at 10:01 (n° 2)
Would it be better to make this recipe or confectioner's custard to fill macarons?
Posted by Bek may 6^th 2012 at 01:44 (n° 1)

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