''Crème anglaise'' (; ), custard sauce, pouring custard, or simply custard is a light, sweetened pouring
custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...
from
French cuisine
French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...
, used as a dessert cream or sauce. It is a mix of
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
,
egg yolk
Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...
s, and hot
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
usually flavoured with
vanilla
Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia'').
''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...
.
can be poured over cakes or fruits as a sauce or eaten as part of desserts such as
floating island
A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from several centimeters to a few meters. Sometimes referred to as ''tussocks'', ''floatons'', or ''suds'', floating islands are found in many parts of t ...
. It also serves as a base ingredient for other desserts such as
ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...
or
crème brûlée.
As a beverage, it is known as "drinking custard" or "boiled custard" in the American South and served like
eggnog
Eggnog (), historically also known as a milk punch or an egg milk punch when alcoholic beverages are added, is a rich, chilled, added sugar, sweetened, dairy-based sweetened beverage, beverage traditionally made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolk ...
during the
Christmas season.
Other names include the French terms ("English-style cream") and ("French cream").
[ Larousse Gastronomique, 1st English edition, p. 319]
Imitation custard sauce, containing no egg, is often made from instant custard powders such as
Bird's Custard
Bird's Custard is the brand name for the original powdered, egg-free imitation custard powder, now owned by Premier Foods. Custard powder and instant custard powder are the generic product names for similar and competing products. The produc ...
.
See also
*
List of dessert sauces
Notes
External links
Making Crème Anglaise- video about how to make crème anglaise
Cardamom Crème Anglaise - recipe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creme anglaise
Custard desserts
Dessert sauces