Crème Anglaise
Crème anglaise, frequently referred to by the generic term custard in English, is the most common and versatile dessert sauce, being used as an accompaniment, or as a base for additional treatment, in numerous desserts in the cuisines of countries throughout the world. It's easy to make and can be flavored in a variety of ways.
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups (315 ml) milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 oz (85 g) white granulated sugar
- Flavoring (typically a vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
Steps
- Bring milk and flavoring to simmer in medium saucepan. If using vanilla bean, split lengthwise and add to milk. Before milk simmers, scrape seeds from bean. Discard husks.
- Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and sugar thoroughly until pale yellow.
- When milk simmers, remove from heat. Slowly pour about half into egg mixture, mixing continuously. Pour egg/milk mixture back into saucepan with remaining milk, stirring continuously. Return to stove.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously. Scrape sides and corners regularly. Do not boil.
- Test: dip spatula in crème, run finger over coating. Done when trail wiped by finger remains.
- Remove from heat. Strain through metal strainer into another bowl. Stir continuously 2 minutes to cool.
- To cool quickly, place bowl in larger bowl of ice and stir until cool. Or freeze, stirring periodically. Otherwise skin forms on top.
Notes from the original
- Uses of crème anglaise are numerous. A classic is to serve it over fresh fruit. In this case, you may want to customize the flavoring to match your fruit (e.g., mint goes well with strawberries and bananas). You can also use the crème as the basis for a rich ice cream.
- Instead of vanilla, you can flavor the creme with a variety of things—herbs, spices, spirits, and coffee among them. For herbs or spices, simply add them to the milk as instructed in step one. For coffee or spirits, omit the flavoring initially and add espresso or spirits after the creme is cooled. Some common variations:
- Nut Crème Anglaise: Add ½ cup freshly toasted and broken nuts such as hazelnuts, black walnuts or pecans to the milk during the first step. Discard nuts after straining.
- Chocolate Crème Anglaise: Add ½ cup chopped fine-quality chocolate (bittersweet, milk, dark or white) to the sauce. Stir until melted, then strain and proceed as for plain Crème Anglaise.
- Coffee Crème Anglaise: Add 2 tablespoons crushed espresso beans to the milk during the first step and proceed as for regular Crème Anglaise. Discard the crushed coffee after straining.
- Herb- or spice-Infused Crème Anglaise: Add a fresh herb such as rosemary, mint or lavender to the milk in the first step, or 1 tablespoon of a spice such as cinnamon, cloves, juniper berries or green cardamom, broken up. Discard the herbs or spices after straining.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Crème Anglaise” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-03-02, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Creme anglaise et pain d'epices DSC00137.JPG by No machine-readable author provided. David.Monniaux assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.