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Vanilla Cream
Sweeten well half a pint of milk and flavor it with vanilla. Put it to boil. Mix in a dish the yolks of four eggs with a little cornflour. When the milk boils, pour it very slowly over the eggs, mixing it well. Return it all to the pan and let it get thick without bringing it to the boil. Add some chopped almonds, and turn the mixture into a mold to cool.
A small stovetop custard — crème à la vanille — thickened with both yolks and starch. The original assumes you know how far to push it, so the temperature is the thing to watch.
- Never let it boilOnce the yolks are in, hold the pan at a bare steam and stir constantly; the custard is done at about 175-180F, when it coats the back of a spoon. Above that the yolks curdle, and the cornflour will not disguise it.
- Half a pintOne cup (240 ml) in US measure, or 10 fl oz if you read the book as British. Either works; the British pint gives a slightly looser cream.
- CornflourBritish cornflour is American cornstarch, not cornmeal and not flour. "A little" means about 2 teaspoons for this quantity — enough to stabilise the yolks against curdling and to help the cream set.
- Sweeten wellRoughly 3 tablespoons of sugar per cup of milk for a dessert cream. Dissolve it in the milk before boiling rather than adding it later.
- VanillaIn 1915 this meant a split pod steeped in the hot milk, or a few drops of essence. If using a pod, infuse it in the milk off the heat for ten minutes, then reheat before tempering.
- Tempering"Pour it very slowly" is the whole technique: add the hot milk to the yolks in a thin stream while whisking, then return everything to the pan. Reversing the order scrambles the eggs.
- AlmondsBlanched and skinned almonds, chopped fine; toasting them first is not in the original but improves them. Fold in off the heat so they stay distinct.
- The moldWith no gelatin, this may or may not turn out cleanly; four yolks and cornflour to half a pint is a rich mixture and can set firm, but the safe course is to chill it at least three hours in small individual molds or glasses and serve it spooned. A little softened gelatin will guarantee a clean unmoulded shape.
- YieldTwo to three small servings. Press cling film onto the surface while cooling to keep a skin from forming.
The Belgian Cook Book was assembled by Mrs. Brian Luck in 1915 from recipes given by Belgian refugees who had fled to England after the German invasion. Many of its dishes are thrifty, small and built around a handful of eggs and a little milk rather than around a joint of meat. A vanilla cream of this kind belongs loosely to the family of French cooked custards: yolks, sweetened milk and vanilla, with starch added as insurance for cooks working over an unpredictable stove — though the starch places it nearer crème pâtissière. The chopped almonds and the mold are what raise it from a sauce to a dessert in its own right.