Crème anglaise (English Cream)

Recipe

4 cups milk (half-and-half if for ice cream)

200 g sugar

8-10 egg yolks

1 vanilla bean, split

What the French call crème anglaise is a highly versatile sauce that is often used as the rich base for ice cream and other such custards (the inclusion of eggs technically makes most ice creams “frozen custards”).  Flavored with vanilla, and/or Grand Marnier (or anything, really) this sauce is poured into still-steaming soufflés in French restaurants around the world.  Sweet, creamy, and open to suggestions, crème anglaise is a worthwhile addition to your arsenal!

Pour the half-and-half, HALF of the sugar, and whatever flavoring you choose to infuse into the ice cream (the split vanilla bean, tea, lavender, whatever) into a saucepan or pot, and heat gently—do not let boil (you knew that).  Should you choose to use an extract of some sort, incorporate it at the end of the heating process.  Infuse your ingredients for at least 10 minutes.  Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl with the other half of the sugar until smooth.  Take the pan off the burner to let it cool for about 10 minutes (to a sub-185º F temperature), and prepare your whisking arm for some vigorous whisking (or invoke Edison and use a hand- or stand-mixer).

After the 10 minutes, pour a bit (1/2 a cup, or so) into the egg-yolk mixture while whisking.  This is known as tempering the eggs.  If you add all of the hot liquid at once, you will scramble the yolks, and that doesn’t make for a very smooth ice cream.  Continue adding the liquid in batches until you have poured in half of it.  At this point, pour the yolk mixture into the pot with the rest of the half-and-half mixture and whisk together.  Put the pot back on the burner, on low heat, and continue to whisk.  If you have a candy thermometer, now would be the time to make use of it. Heat the custard until it reaches 185ºF.  If you do not posses the appropriate thermometer, keep a spoon at the ready, and when you notice the crème anglaise starting to thicken, dip the spoon in.  The custard should coat the spoon thickly, and when a finger is run across the back of the spoon, it should remain parted (“let my people go!”).  Pour the crème anglaise through a strainer into another container to prevent it from overcooking (remember, the pan is still hotter than 185º F) and to remove any overly coagulated portions, and refrigerate it.  If you are going to use the sauce that day, do so once it has cooled down (about 40º F will do, though refrigerators are best kept between 34º F and 38º F).  If you are using it as a base for ice cream, it is best left to settle overnight—this will produce a smoother ice cream.

What you have just done is actually carefully control just how much the yolk proteins denature, or scramble, as we often say.  Raising the temperature will cause the proteins to take unfold, allowing them to bond to one another.  Too hot, and you will unfold the proteins completely and allow then to link together in large chains, which will form into scrambled bits of egg.  If you don’t let them unfold completely by keeping the temperature below 186º F, they will only form small chains, which will thicken the sauce, but are not big enough to make it lumpy.