Vanilla Sauce (Make same as Lemon Sauce II)

This is a variation entry rather than a standalone recipe: it depends entirely on the book's Lemon Sauce II, which supplies the proportions, the thickening and the method. A few notes on handling the substitution.

• Find the base firstLook up Lemon Sauce II elsewhere in the book before starting; it supplies all the proportions. Sauces of this type in period books are commonly sugar and a starch thickener (cornstarch or flour) cooked with boiling water, finished with butter, then flavoured, though this book's version may differ.
• Add the vanilla off the heatAlcohol-based extract loses aroma fast in a simmering pan, so if the base recipe has you add the lemon juice at the end, treat the vanilla the same way: take the sauce off the burner, let it stop bubbling, then stir the teaspoon in.
• What "vanilla" meant hereA teaspoon measure implies a liquid extract rather than vanilla sugar or a bean. Imitation vanillin is harsher and shows more in a plain sweet sauce than it does in a cake.
• You lose the acidDropping the lemon juice removes the sharp note in the base sauce, so the result is markedly sweeter. A small pinch of salt in the finished sauce restores some definition.
• Nutmeg is optional to dropThe instruction removes the nutmeg along with the lemon, but vanilla and nutmeg sit together perfectly well. Keeping a light grating is a defensible choice if the pudding is a plain steamed or bread one.
• Consistency and holdingStarch-thickened sauces set as they cool and skin over. Serve warm from a pitcher, and if it stiffens, thin with a spoonful of hot water and whisk rather than reboiling.