Vanilla
malt
crème
anglaise
(thin
custard)
I
loved
making
bottles
of
this
for
the
Beatrixers
at
Christmas.
Their
eyes
would
glint
as
they
gleefully
or
guiltily
disclosed
the
way
it
was
consumed – straight
from
the
bottle
when
the
kids
were
asleep
(Leah)
or
in
a
‘mince
pie
floater’ – sitting
a
warmed
Christmas
fruit
mince
pie
(page 119)
on
a
wide
pond
of
custard
(
Joe).
Its
allure
may
be
that
crème
anglaise
is
something
we
rarely
make
for
ourselves
and,
like
stocks
or
doughs,
really
good
ones
are
hard
to
buy.
Making
this
for
a
large
restaurant’s
pastry
menu
meant
coaxing
vast
five
litre-plus pots of it to precise temperature
and
consistency – stirring
slowly
with
a
wooden
spoon,
monitoring,
worrying.
I
have
since
ditched
this
for
a
cold
start
double
boiler
method,
though
you’ll
still
need
a
middling
amount
of
vigilance
towards
the
end
to
achieve
true
custard
glory
(not
sweet,
creamy
scrambled
eggs).
Traditionalists
may
not
agree
with
the
cream
level,
condensed
milk
or
the
malt,
but
they
give
a
plumpness
to
the
mouthfeel
and
a
more
malty-dimensional
complex
flavour.
Set
up
a
double
boiler
by
filling
a
25
cm
(10
in)
wide
saucepan
with
5
cm
(2
in)
of
water.
Place
it
on
the
stovetop
and
bring
to
a
low
simmer.
Choose
a
stainless-steel
bowl
to
sit
on
top
that
is
slightly
wider
than
the
pan.
Don’t
let
the
bottom
of
the
bowl
touch
the
water.
Just
a
thing
before
we
start:
the
custard
needs
to
cook
to
a
spot-on
80°C
(175°F).
Past
that,
you’ll
find
yourself
in
the
Valley
of
Broken
Custard
(it
will
look
split,
curdled
or
separated).*
Hover
the
thermometer
tip
into
the
custard,
making
sure
it
doesn’t
touch
the
side.
If
the
thermometer
tip
hits
the
bowl,
the
temperature
read
will
be
higher
and
your
custard
won’t
actually
be
cooked
enough.
Put
the
egg
yolk,
condensed
milk,
malt
syrup,
salt
and
vanilla
seeds
or
paste
in
the
stainless-steel
bowl
and
hand
whisk
until
the
mixture
forms
a
creamy
paste – it
doesn’t
have
to
be
pale
and
fluffy.
Whisk
in
the
milk
and
cream
and
add
in
the
scraped-out
vanilla
bean
pod
(if
using).
Place
the
bowl
on
the
double
boiler.
Using
the
hand
whisk,
whisk
the
custard
occasionally
until
the
mix
comes
up
to
70°C
(160°F).
Makes
960
g/ml
(2
lb
2
oz).
Halve
the
Keeps
Up
to
4
days
chilled.
batch
or
share
it
with
a
p
al.
Takes
Around
30
minutes
to
mix
and
cook.
180
g
(6½
oz)
egg
yolk
(from
approx.
9
eggs
90
g
(3
oz)
sweetened
condensed
milk
40
g
(1½
oz)
barley
malt
extract/
syrup
1
g
(⅟
₃₂
oz/¼
teaspoon)
sea
salt
flakes
1
vanilla
bean,
split
and
scraped
OR
10
g
(¼
oz)
vanilla
paste
250
g/ml
(9
oz)
full-cream
(whole)
milk
400
g/ml
(14
oz)
cream
(35%
milkfat)
Barley
malt
syrup
is
readily
available
in
supermarkets – look
near
the
honey.
Don’t
use
the
powder.