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Crème Anglais just sounds sooo fancy, doesn’t it? Like something you’d order at a fancy schmancy restaurant but not something you’d make on a Tuesday night at home. But I’m here to tell you that Tuesday nights deserve some love, too. With this low carb crème anglais recipe, you can be super fancy while sitting in your pajamas watching Netflix.
Low Carb Crème Anglais
Despite the exotic sounding name, crème anglais is a fairly simple dish. A few ingredients, and a saucepan will have you with a perfect custard sauce in no time.
Conventional crème anglais uses a mixture of milk and cream, but I substituted cashew milk for the milk to cut the carbs down. Almond or coconut milk would also work here, and you can substitute coconut cream
for the cream to make this dairy-free.
The milk mixture needs to be heated just to the point of bubbles appearing around the edges, but it shouldn’t be brought to a boil. I used half a vanilla bean
, split, to flavor it but you can use regular vanilla extract or some vanilla bean powder
if you like.
Next you need a few egg yolks and your favorite sweetener. I used my low carb sweetener blend here, but you can use whichever sweetener
you like best.
Three tablespoons of my sweetener blend gives a sweetness that’s equivalent to a conventional crème anglais, but I prefer half that amount as my tastebuds have changed significantly on a keto diet.
The next step is tempering the eggs. I let my vanilla bean steep in the the milk for a good 15-20 minutes to get the most flavor. If you do this, you’ll need to reheat it back to just barely simmering.
Whisk the eggs and sweetener together well, then slowly ladle a thin stream of hot milk into the eggs while whisking constantly, like you see above.
Ladle about half of the milk mixture into the eggs, then add the egg mixture back into the milk in the saucepan and whisk well to combine.
This next part is the trickiest part of making crème anglais. Turn the heat to low. If you’ve made this sort of thing before, you can get away with medium-low heat. But if you’ve never made custard before, go slow!
You need to stir this CONSTANTLY. Don’t answer the phone. Don’t scroll Facebook. Keep a close eye on the custard as it cooks. DO NOT let it boil.
It will take a minute or two before it seems like it’s doing anything, but once it starts thickening, you need to be ready.
Once the custard is thick enough to cling to the back of a spoon, take it off the heat immediately.
You need to be careful because if it gets too hot, the eggs will scramble and the whole thing will end up separating and curdled-looking. There is no salvaging it at this point.
Go slow, and watch carefully. Then you’ll end up with something really lovely.
Whenever you’re making custard, you should strain the final mixture through a sieve to make sure it’s really smooth. If you used a vanilla bean, straining will remove that as well.
Pour into containers and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the crème anglais so it doesn’t develop a “skin” on the top.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Once it’s chilled, you can do as you please.
Eat it straight with a spoon? Yes, thank you.
Pour over berries? I’ll take two bowls.
Serve alongside some mini beignets? Hold me.
Come to mama.
Low Carb Crème Anglaise
This low carb creme anglaise looks fancy but is really simple to make!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cashew, almond, or coconut milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut cream
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split, or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean powder
- 3 egg yolks
- 1-3 Tbsp low carb sweetener (to taste)
Instructions
- Combine milk, cream and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until bubbles form around the edge of the pan. If using vanilla bean, turn off heat and allow to steep for 15-20 minutes for best flavor, then bring back up to the same heat.
- While the milk is heating, whisk egg yolks and sweetener together well in a medium bowl.
- Temper the eggs: While whisking constantly, ladle a thin stream of hot milk into the eggs. Keep adding hot milk slowly while whisking until half the milk has been added. Once half the milk has been whisked into the egg mixture, pour the eggs into the milk in the saucepan, whisking well to combine.
- Turn heat to low. Stir custard constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Take off heat immediately and strain through a sieve into a clean bowl.
- Transfer to serving containers. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the crème anglais and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.
Serve as desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 313Total Fat: 30.3gSaturated Fat: 17gSodium: 65mgCarbohydrates: 3.6gNet Carbohydrates: 3.5gFiber: 0.2gSugar: 2.5gProtein: 5.5g
