Old Fashioned Crème Anglaise with a Prune Cardamom bottom

It has been exactly 184 days since I wrote anything on my blog and it feels like ages since I baked or made anything. No I haven’t been lazy, yes travelling a bit, and of course how can I forget that I got MARRIED! Yayyyyy

I have been trying to motivate myself to make something, to start baking since the beginning of April and couldn’t really find the motivation to make anything special or new.. I thought maybe I’d already forgotten how to bake!

But then like cycling and swimming it all came back the moment I picked up my new silicon spatula. I had separated 5 eggs to start off making funky new flavours of Macarons and was left with nice juicy plump egg yolks. I have always wanted to make a simple crème anglaise – which is light, creamy custard which can be used as a sauce or as a cream base. It is very easy to make, just make sure you follow all the steps till the very end..

This recipe is taken from Pierre Hermé’s book – Le Larousse des Desserts

Crème Anglaise with Prunes and Cardamom Jelly

Make time: 20 minutes

Get

2 vanilla pods

150 ml of heavy milk

200 ml cream

4 egg yolks

85 g granulated / fine sugar

Set

1. Slice open the vanilla pods in two, take out the seeds. Put the seeds and the pods in a casserole and add the milk and cream. Bring the liquid to a boil and the let the mixture cook for 10 minutes.
2. I a big bowl, beat the egg yolks and the sugar for 3 minutes till light and frothy. Slowly mix in the milk and cream liquid mixture while stirring at the same time. Make sure you mix well, as the eggs start to cook if you are slow!
3. Heat the egg and milk mixture on a medium flame, make sure the pot has a thick bottom so as to avoid burning.. Keep stirring with a spatula or a wooden spoon and avoid the mixture to boil. Continue until the mixture starts to coat the back of the spatula or the wooden spoon. A medium thick layer should form or the spoon should be coated with this mixture. This indicates that the eggs have been homogenously cooked and have arrived to the right consistency.
4. Take the mixture off the gas, and mix for another 2-3 minutes. Pass this mixture through a sieve to make sure that there are no lumps.
5. To further stop the cooking process, dip the bowl containing the mixture in a bigger bowl of ice.

Go

6. Take dollops of prune and cardamom jelly/jam and put it in the base of individual serving bowls.
7. Pour the crème anglaise over the jelly and refrigerate for over 12-18 hours.