This is a luscious, silky, smooth vanilla sauce that’s so versatile and easy to make. Makes an amazing bread pudding sauce! Pair this with any dessert!
This custard vanilla sauce has a perfect consistency, not too thick, not too thin. Deliciously smooth and just the right amount of sweetness. It's fantastic as a bread pudding sauce, tastes incredible drizzled over fresh fruit, or paired with any baked good.
This is also known as creme anglaise, vanilla custard sauce, bread pudding sauce, or vanilla cream sauce. You can see there are a lot of uses for this versatile sauce.
Try it with this recipe for Custard Bread Pudding. The bread pudding sauce adds a silky, smooth layer for extra indulgence.
Or try it with this recipe for Baked Cinnamon Apples for an elegant dessert. Perfect for dinner parties!
This custard vanilla sauce is super versatile and can be made with any kind of milk. I used whole milk for a creamier, richer flavor but if you're looking for a lighter cream sauce, you can skip the half and half and make this entirely with milk. Just double the amount of milk and it will still taste amazing. You can make this with skim milk or even non-dairy milk! Whatever combination you use, it will be divine!
Custard Vanilla Sauce Tips:
- When adding the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, add in a ladle at a time in a narrow stream while whisking quickly. This is tempering the egg yolks so that they don't curdle.
- Add the vanilla extract once the sauce is removed from the heat and the sauce has cooled somewhat. This ensures the vanilla flavor doesn't cook off in a hot pot.
- Run the sauce through a fine sieve for a smooth, silky consistency.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please share, rate, and comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
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Want more? Check out these other recipes!
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- Custard Bread Pudding With Vanilla Sauce
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- Perfect Baked Cinnamon Apples
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- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread with Cream Cheese Swirls
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- Bakery Swiss Roll Cake
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- Giant Flourless Chocolate Cookies
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- Easy Lemon Blueberry Bread with Walnuts
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Easy Vanilla Sauce Recipe | Bread Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
Instructions
- Add the milk and half and half to a pot and bring to a slight simmer. Remove from heat.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl. Slowly ladle all the warm milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while whisking quickly. Adding it too quickly will cook the egg yolks and cause the sauce to curdle.
- Return to the mixture to the pot and heat over medium low until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon. About 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat, add the vanilla once it cools.
- Strain the sauce if desired. Serve warm or chill in the refrigerator.
Notes
- To reheat, add the vanilla sauce to a small pot and reheat it on the stove top over very low heat, while constantly stirring. Remove it from the heat once it's warmed through.
- Overheating this can cause the sauce to curdle so keep stirring and watch it closely.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.
Sylva
I made this to serve over my Apple Crumb Pie. Fabulous!!
Jamie
Thanks for trying it Sylva! So happy you loved it!
Harriet
I had been testing some pastry recipes, and had some scraps left over. I cooked them up with a sprinkle of sugar, and made a batch of this sauce. We had a lot of fun dipping the pastry into the sauce! Delicious!
Jamie
Thanks Harriet! That's a great idea to use this as a vanilla dipping sauce! So glad you enjoyed it!
Eloise
Really easy to prepare - I served mine with some fruit cake, and it was really delicious. If you're anything like me though, I recommend making a large batch as I couldn't stop eating it with a spoon!!
Jamie
Thank you Eloise! That's a great idea to serve the vanilla sauce with fruit cake! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Beth
This is incredibly good! Flavors are well balanced and easy to make! Loved it!
Kelly Anthony
I love how versatile this vanilla sauce is. I think I will try it on bread pudding first.
Gordon
Delicious and just the right amount of sweetness. Made this to accompany a friend's dessert and everyone loved it.
Lydia Blakley
If you make and chill the sauce afte ahead of time what is the best way to heat?
Jamie
Hi Lydia!
You can reheat the vanilla sauce by placing it in a small pot and reheat it over very low heat while constantly stirring. If it gets overheated, it can curdle. Hope you enjoy!
Genevieve
This custard sauce is so delicious! Very creamy and smooth.
Sadia Malik
this custard is so easy to make, I make this to serve with any desserts.
Adriana
Love this vanilla sauce and the idea or serving it with baked apples is delightful. We all need to learn the basics and this recipe is a keeper!
RITA NAIDOO
I want to try this recipe what is half and half that i see in the ingredients
Jamie
Hi Rita! Half and half is equal parts milk and cream which is how it gets its name. It's sold in most grocery stores in the US in the dairy section. If you don't have half and half, you can mix half whole milk and half heavy cream to get half and half. It usually has about 10% - 16% fat content. Hope you enjoy! 🙂