Vanilla Sauce

It's fall and I should be posting my pear tart recipe. Instead, I bought three beautiful baskets of delicious strawberries from my friend Ronald at the local farmer's market. They are so good that we ate half of them while listening to music during our weekly get-together at the market. Each Sunday when I am in town, I meet with some friends over lunch with at the market. It has become a lovely and relaxing Sunday ritual that I really enjoy.

The strawberries from Ronald are sweet with an earthy flavor. They are good just by themselves, but I thought I fancy them up a little with vanilla sauce. It is a simple and straightforward recipe, yet so delicious – and a healthy ending to any meal. My husband decided to grill a steak since the temperature reached over 90 degrees here on the Pacific coast. After a foggy and cold summer, this was a welcome respite.

Sunny Cove Beach

Vanilla sauce brings back memories from my childhood days. Almost every Sunday, we would have pudding for our Sunday lunch (which was dinner served at noon). We ate bread and spreads in the evening and called it Abenbrot, which literally means “the bread for the evening.” Our favorite pudding was Götterspeise  (translates as “the meal of the gods”) known as Jello here in the US. Jello is also called Wackelpudding, meaning that the pudding will wobble when touched or moved. Another favorite dessert of mine is rote Grütze (red fruit Jello). My mom  always would serve these puddings with vanilla sauce. I apologize for boring you with all of of this, but trust me, I have not thought of them for years. Maybe that’s why I like blogging, because it brings back so many memories. My sweet dad loved these puddings. He has been gone for so long, but I believe that chocolate pudding with vanilla sauce was his favorite. He was such a sweet and kind man.

Back to the sauce! It is light, healthy, easy to make with a velvety texture and creamy flavor. It will elevate any fresh fruit– strawberries, raspberries or simple puddings–to another level. You can make it in no time and be creative by serving a cookie on the side, some ice cream or whatever tickles your fancy. This time, I just sliced the strawberries and added some of the sauce. Enjoy!

Just in case you are longing for some apple or pear cakes, here is my well loved apple strudel cake, as well as a delicious chunky pear nut cake flavored with spices and juicy pears. Click on the  picture to get the recipe.

The sauce is made in about 15 minutes. There is only one trick to it: Do not let it come to a boil because it will curdle and ruin your sauce. The sauce was plenty sweet enough for me, but you could add another tablespoon of sugar for those who have a sweet tooth. This sauce is thick and creamy, resembling a runny custard.

Print Recipe

Ingredients​

3 egg yolks
4 TBS sugar
1 TBS corn starch 
2 ½ cups of milk 
1 vanilla pod

Directions

Mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch with a metal whisk in a heavy medium-sized pot. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape the seeds out and add it all to the mixture. Slowly add the milk, whisking the sauce most of the time over medium heat, until the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat and continue to cool in the pot, whisking occasionally. Remove the vanilla pod and put the sauce into a container in the fridge until ready to serve. 
​
​
Guten Appetit!
recipe©Sunnycovechef