so i started pastry school online this august (shout out escoffier), and apart from typical baking/cooking fails, all has been going well. this week’s assignment is to make a charlotte royale and i sucked at getting my genoise rolled tight, and even though i’ve made pastry cream a MILLION times, when making my crème anglaise so i could make my bavarian cream, it scrambled. everything was great, i tempered the scalded milk into the eggs, and it was fine, so back into the saucepan it went. even with my thermometer to make sure the custard didn’t go over 185F, it all scrambled over low heat, despite the temp staying around 160F the entire time. stovetop (electric) was cooking at medium heat. any tips or similar experiences? i’m a perfectionist, which sucks since i’m a student and learning and can’t make everything perfect on the first try. but any help would be appreciated!
American here. I lived in the UK from ages 7-10 and fondly remember English custard. I've never really had anything like it over here. I just looked up recipes and they are all saying its just Crème Anglaise. That can't be right, I've had, and made Crème Anglaise many times (former cook). As I remember true English custard had such a distinctive flavor. Am I wrong?
Basically, I tried to make crème anglaise today which ended up being a total fail. I would like to know where I did a mistake to try it again later.
I first whisked 4 egg yolks with 125g of sugar. Texture was thick (could still feel the grains of sugar in the beaten egg).
I then heated 2 cups of milk with a vanilla bean and its content until I saw a bit of smoke coming.
I then incorporated both mixtures while whisking. My sister accidentally poured a big batch of milk on the egg mixture (maybe it should have been incorporated more slowly).
I then put the mix back on low heat and continuously whisked while waiting to reach the consistency needed. There where two different phases in the mix (on the top, a white and foamy phase probably caused by the milk, and a yellow phase underneath).
After 5-10 minutes of waiting, I thought that maybe the heat was not high enough, so I gradually increased it. Reached high heat within 10 minutes, and still no big consistency change. Ended up with an omelette that was cooking within the sauce.
If anyone here knows where I could have potentially gone wrong, I'd really like to know it so that I can get another try on it. Thanks in advance!
I had never made crème anglaise before^* and let it get too hot, so the eggs cooked a bit. I am loathe to throw out five perfectly edible sugared yolks.
Is my custard base ruined? The consistency looks almost like a porridge. Could maybe make tapioca or rice pudding...? desserts where tiny suspended chunks have rarely drawn complaint.
Any suggestions what to do with this quasi crème?
Edit: I still have the egg whites too.
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^(* That is, I've made other recipes before where the heat had to be kept low lest the eggs cook, but didn't realize that was the case for this recipe, too, and never knew crème anglaise was its own thing.)
Hi,
I made two attempts to make Julia Child's crème anglaise as a filling for my soufflé later today. However, both attempts came out super runny even when I followed the steps religiously. I figured it's because I used skim milk instead of whole milk. Is there a way to fix the crème?
I read on a béchamel recipe that you can add 1 tsp of flour per cup of skim milk to thicken the sauce. Would that also apply here? The custard is already in the fridge but I assume I can reheat it and stir in the flour? Please help!
No Churn
- 1 Can (14. oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream (Cold)
Crème Anglaise
- 2 Cups Whole Milk
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- ⅔ Sugar
- c
- 6 Large Egg Yolks
- Flavor Options: Peanut Butter, Oreos, Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch, Biscuits, Nutella
