True Decadence: Vanilla Dessert Sauce with a Secret Ingredient!

Posted by nutrition to kitchen on October 29, 2010 · 16 Comments 

Wow.  I can’t stop licking my spoon right now.  Must stop and write post.  Oooh, but let’s just take another look…

Whoever said vanilla was too boring?  😉

As the Healthbuzz Featured Health Editor for November, I’m tinkering with some lactose-free recipes, and tried lactose-free milk for the first time today.  First impression was holy cow (no pun intended)!  To me, this stuff tastes more sweet than regular milk.  But don’t worry, it has the same nutrition profile as regular milk, so there’s not an increased amount of sugar in lactose-free milk.  The perceived sweetness is due to the addition of the lactase enzyme in lactose-free milk.  This enzyme breaks down lactose into simpler sugar molecules, glucose and galactose, which are noted to be sweeter-tasting than lactose itself.

But enough of my food science talk – it tends to come out sometimes!  🙂  Let’s get on to the goods!

This vanilla sauce is perfect for pouring over fresh fruit, a slice of toasted pound cake, served warm over bread pudding, and probably pretty fantastic even frozen into ice cream (which gives me more ideas for later experiments!).  And because the lactose-free milk already tasted sweeter than regular milk, I added just a touch of sugar for the sauce instead of what you might normally see in vanilla sauces, or crème anglaise (therefore, this milk was my secret ingredient!).  The reduced-fat (2%) lactose-free milk I used provided enough luscious, creamy texture without being too thick and heavy had I used whole milk or half-and-half.

For this recipe, it’s easiest to lay out all your materials and ingredients and have them ready prior to starting.  Read the whole recipe first before proceeding (you should do this with any recipe anyways).  Pay careful attention to the temperature of the stove, and make sure you don’t overheat the milk or the sauce at the end – you may end up with a nice hot mess!  That was me on my first try – I accidentally had the stove kept on medium heat while I tempered my eggs on the countertop, so by the time I put the egg-milk mixture back onto the stove to thicken, it was way too hot and turned into a nice scrambled-eggy glop of fun.  No worries though, because the second time was a charm, and now I have a bunch of egg whites to make egg white and spinach omelets for tomorrow morning!  Enjoy and share! 🙂

Lactose-Free Vanilla Dessert Sauce

makes 1 cup; serves 4

1 cup reduced-fat (2%) lactose-free milk

3 large egg yolks

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

1.  Over medium heat, heat the milk in a small saucepan until it starts to simmer.  Turn off the heat and take the saucepan off the stove.

2.  In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until well-combined.  Slowly, pour the hot milk, little by little, into the yolks, whisking vigorously.

3.  Over medium-low heat, return the egg yolk-milk mixture to the saucepan and onto the stove, whisking for about 2-3 minutes.  Turn the heat back up to medium for another 2 minutes, until the sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon and when you run your finger through the back of the spoon to form a line, the line remains.  Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

4.  Form an ice bath by filling up a large bowl with ice and a little water.  Place a small bowl on top of the ice and a fine-mesh strainer in the small bowl.  Strain the sauce into the small bowl and mix the sauce until cool.  Place the sauce in the refrigerator until cold (you can also heat it up later for a warm sauce, yummy over bread pudding!).

Nutrition facts per serving (1/4 cup): 91 calories, 4.6 grams fat, 7.7 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams protein

Filed under desserts, eggs · Tagged with dessert, lactose intolerance, lactose-free, lactose-free milk, vanilla sauce