Vanilla Cream or Sauce

This is really delicious on its own, but I use it mainly to serve alongside brownies, bread pudding, apple pie, berries, or poached pears. You can either make this as a thicker cream or as a sauce. I love it as a cream for berries, poached pears or brownies and as a sauce over apple pie or bread pudding. Serve chilled over warm or cool desserts or just eat it on its own as a custard.

• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 20 mins
• Calories: 129 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup white sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 ½ cups whole milk, divided
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, or more as desired

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Heat 2 cups milk in a heavy saucepan over low heat until simmering, about 5 minutes.

Step 2

Beat remaining 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch together in a bowl using a whisk until dissolved; add sugar and egg yolks and beat until smooth. Slowly pour milk mixture into simmering milk while gently whisking the simmering milk; simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and stir vanilla extract into sauce.

Step 3

Pour the sauce through a wire mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any cornstarch lumps. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the sauce, ensuring the plastic wrap is touching the sauce to prevent a skin from forming; cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Step 4

Move sauce to refrigerator and chill completely cold, at least 30 minutes.