White Sauce
Dec. 23rd, 2004 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageFor those of you making a Christmas Pudding soon (or rather, taking it out of the fridge and resteaming it for the requisite two hours) here is the white sauce recipe that I use to good effect:
3 cups milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, well beaten
Take about half a cup of the milk and mix it with the cornstarch until there are no lumps. I cannot stress the importance of this step enough. Every time my white sauce has failed or been lumpy, it was because I skimped on this step. (Today it turned out perfectly. *smug smile*)
Heat the milk to scalding stage. Every single year I've made this recipe, I've had to call my aunt to remind me of what scalding stage actually means. Basically, when it starts to stick a little bit to the side of the pan or the spoon, you're ready for the next step. I never do this on full heat, because the next step can go WAY too fast to control if you do. Better too slow, fiddling with the dial, than too fast and burnt.
When the milk is scalding, add the cornstarch mixture and the sugar, whisking all the while. Now, I hate whisks. they're a pain in the neck to clean up afterwards. This is the only recipe I ever make where I use a whisk, because of the problems with lumps.
Heat on med-high until the sauce thickens. Basically, this means bring it to the stage just before it starts to boil. If it comes to a rolling boil, you've got problems, because it will thicken way too fast. A bare simmer will thicken the sauce at a much more manageable rate. Again, play with the dial.
Add egg and vanilla when the sauce is already thick. Adjust for thickness and sweetness as desired. (If you're going to adjust thickness, you need more cold milk and more cornstarch. Have someone else stir while you do this. Again, lumps are anathema. Usually, I just leave the sauce at whatever thickness it was when I added the egg.)
Cook for a minute or so, then take it off the heat. If you're making it while the pudding is waiting to go on the table, serve immediately. If you're the kind who makes things ahead, as I do, pour the sauce into a bowl that can withstand the heat and has a lid. If you like a skin on the white sauce, put the lid on and stick the bowl in the fridge. If you'd rather avoid the skin thing, take plastic wrap and lay it on the surface of the sauce. It will form an artifical skin and you can heat the whole bowl up in the microwave later, skin-free and delicious.
Now I have to go steam a pudding for the first of five (??!!!!!??) Christmas feasts tonight. Happy merrymaking, everyone!
Oh, and don't worry too much if your first white sauce is lumpy. This is the first year mine has turned out perfectly, and I've done it every CHristmas since I was married.
3 cups milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, well beaten
Take about half a cup of the milk and mix it with the cornstarch until there are no lumps. I cannot stress the importance of this step enough. Every time my white sauce has failed or been lumpy, it was because I skimped on this step. (Today it turned out perfectly. *smug smile*)
Heat the milk to scalding stage. Every single year I've made this recipe, I've had to call my aunt to remind me of what scalding stage actually means. Basically, when it starts to stick a little bit to the side of the pan or the spoon, you're ready for the next step. I never do this on full heat, because the next step can go WAY too fast to control if you do. Better too slow, fiddling with the dial, than too fast and burnt.
When the milk is scalding, add the cornstarch mixture and the sugar, whisking all the while. Now, I hate whisks. they're a pain in the neck to clean up afterwards. This is the only recipe I ever make where I use a whisk, because of the problems with lumps.
Heat on med-high until the sauce thickens. Basically, this means bring it to the stage just before it starts to boil. If it comes to a rolling boil, you've got problems, because it will thicken way too fast. A bare simmer will thicken the sauce at a much more manageable rate. Again, play with the dial.
Add egg and vanilla when the sauce is already thick. Adjust for thickness and sweetness as desired. (If you're going to adjust thickness, you need more cold milk and more cornstarch. Have someone else stir while you do this. Again, lumps are anathema. Usually, I just leave the sauce at whatever thickness it was when I added the egg.)
Cook for a minute or so, then take it off the heat. If you're making it while the pudding is waiting to go on the table, serve immediately. If you're the kind who makes things ahead, as I do, pour the sauce into a bowl that can withstand the heat and has a lid. If you like a skin on the white sauce, put the lid on and stick the bowl in the fridge. If you'd rather avoid the skin thing, take plastic wrap and lay it on the surface of the sauce. It will form an artifical skin and you can heat the whole bowl up in the microwave later, skin-free and delicious.
Now I have to go steam a pudding for the first of five (??!!!!!??) Christmas feasts tonight. Happy merrymaking, everyone!
Oh, and don't worry too much if your first white sauce is lumpy. This is the first year mine has turned out perfectly, and I've done it every CHristmas since I was married.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-24 08:19 pm (UTC)Reading ahead, I see the sauce went over well! Congrats :)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-24 09:14 pm (UTC)And I let Piet handle the clean-up. That works even better, at least until I have to wash the whisk before using it again. :)