Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)


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.
420 K 3.8/5 (51 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: January 17th 2018
For 350 g, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 20 min.
Resting: 15 min.
Cooking: 15 min.
All in all: 45 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 5 min.
Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)
In a pan, pour 8.8 oz whole milk and add 1 vanilla pod.

Stage 2 - 5 min.
Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)
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)
Put 3 egg yolks and 1.4 oz caster sugar in a bowl.

Stage 4 - 2 min.
Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)
And without delay mix well using a maryse.

Stage 5 - 3 min.
Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)
Pour the hot milk onto the egg yolks + sugar and mix well.

Stage 6 - 2 min.
Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
Source: From Gaston Lenôtre.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe20 RDI=9 %50 RDI=5 %30 RDI=4 %540 RDI=30 %2,250 RDI: 30 %
Per 100 g6 RDI=2 %10 RDI=1 %7 RDI=1 %150 RDI=8 %640 RDI: 8 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Milk, egg
How much will it cost?
  • For 350 g : 3.10 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 14
Pears and caramelised walnut samosas
Pears and caramelised walnut samosas

Samosas are small parcels of filling wrapped in brik (or filo) sheets and either shallow or deep fried. Here is a sweet version, with pears and caramelised walnuts.
331 K4 1 hour 25 min.
Norman flambéed apples
Norman flambéed apples

Apples sautéed in butter and sugar, then flambéed in Calvados (from Normandy) and served with real custard.
62 K1 40 min.
Caramelized brioche with pear and kiwi
Caramelized brioche with pear and kiwi

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).
103 K 15 45 min.
Pistachio panna cotta with custard
Pistachio panna cotta with custard

In this dessert, the pistachio panna cotta is teamed with real vanilla custard and topped with a few caramelised pistachios.
48 K 25 3 hours 15 min.
Confit of quinces in Macvin
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.
32 K 1 hour 20 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
How to glaze a tart
How to glaze a tart
Professional pastrycooks usually say that "a beautiful cake is already half sold", it is one of the reasons why they do not put a tart on sale without glazing it ("abricoter" in Fench), i.e. coating it with a thick apricot syrup. This glaze gives a glossy finish to the tart (see the photographs...
February 15th 2016454 K4.4 7 min.
Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
Puff pastry is an incredible assembly of thin layers of butter enclosed in thin layers of dough. After cooking this give a succession of thin crisp pastry leaves that produce exceptional desserts or pies. It's a jewel of French patisserie. Making your own puff pastry is not very difficult, it's just...
January 19th 2011453 K 63.3 2 hours 45 min.
Mediterranean toast
Mediterranean toast
On a slice of toasted bread: barely-cooked Spanish ham, sticks of fried chorizo, slices of peeled tomato and sliced feta.
October 9th 2011134 K4.5 1 hour 5 min.
Roast in the bag pork with fondant vegetables.
Roast in the bag pork with fondant vegetables.
Roasting "in the bag" is a simple but long method. The meat is sealed in a bag and cooked slowly at moderate temperature, keeping it very tender and with an amazing flavour. Meat cooked like this produces delicious juicies without adding anything else. These can be used to cook vegetables to a...
April 12th 2020118 K4 5 hours 45 min.
How to peel pistachios
How to peel pistachios
If you buy pistachios shelled but still in their skins (cheaper than ready peeled), you shouldn't use them like this. They need to be "skinned", removing the skin which is pretty unpleasant to eat. Here's a fairly easy way to do it.
May 20th 2020133 K3.3 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-05-18)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
The 2 comments already posted on this recipe
  • This recipe is too much liquid for a macaroon filling, you should better use confectioner's custard.
    Posted by jh may 6th 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 6th 2012 at 01:44 n° 1

Follow this recipe (as 3 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page