Vanilla Sauce

Makes 1 1/2 cups

This sauce is the American version of crème anglaise, a vanilla custard sauce. Our recipe makes a basic vanilla sauce that goes well with every dessert. To enhance the sauce, you can add liquor (Calvados or pear brandy comes to mind). This sauce does not require heavy cream to taste sinful. Here, we use a milk base to create a simple, decadent sauce.

ingredients

1 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 to 4 tablespoons liquor (optional)

directions

1
Heat the milk in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat just until warm. In a bowl, whisk together the yolks, sugar, and salt until slightly thickened and lighter in color. Slowly pour half of the warm milk into the yolk mixture, whisking continuously. Next, pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and thickly coats the back of a spoon.
2
Set a bowl over an ice bath, then strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve set over the bowl. Add the vanilla and stir until cool.
3
Stir in liquor to taste, then refrigerate for about 2 hours, until completely chilled, before serving.