Custard! What Englishman doesn’t love custard? Not that horror that we had at school with a nasty thick skin on it, but the gorgeous yellow vanilla rich sauce that has to accompany a Crumble or Sticky Toffee Pudding .  It is so English that the French even acknowledge the fact by naming it after us  – a rare honour indeed as France usually think any foodstuff issuing for these islands as something beneath their contempt.  So Creme Anglaise – the British salute you for services to the nation.

Yet again it follows the basic technique of Creme Pat but with a much higher liquid content.  You can make it in advance and then reheat it, but make sure you cover it with cling film touching the surface to stop a skin forming.

Creme Anglaise

The Ingredients

• 600ml full fat milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 25g sugar

The Method

• put the milk in a pan
• slit the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the milk, and then put the vanilla pod into the pan
• heat the milk until it has just boiled and allow to steep and cool slightly while doing the next step
• whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour into a smooth paste
• pour a little of the milk into the paste and whisk until smooth
• pour the paste back into the pan
• bring back to the boil and stir until the custard thickens
• take out the vanilla pod
• if necessary push through a sieve though I have never needed to do this
• if you are not serving it straight away, pour into a bowl and over with cling film with the cling film touching the surface so a skin doesn’t form