Crème anglaise (French for "English cream") is a light pouring custard used as a dessert cream, or sauce. It is a mix of sugar, egg yolks and hot milk. It is often flavored with vanilla.
The cream is made by whipping egg yolks and sugar together until the yolk is almost white; adding hot milk little by little; and cooking in a double boiler. The sauce is stirred with a spoon until it coats the back of a spoon, and then must be withdrawn from fire. If the sauce reaches too high a temperature, it will curdle. Cooking temperature should be between 69°C and 85°C; the higher the temperature, the thicker the resulting cream.
It can be poured as a sauce over cakes, fruits, etc. Alternately, it can be eaten as a dessert on its own, often in the presentation of Île flottante ("floating island"): the cream is poured into a bowl with a piece of cooked foamy egg whites (blancs en neige) on top. It can also be used as a base for desserts such as icecream or crème brûlée.
Larousse Gastronomique calls it 'crème à l'anglaise' and 'crème française'.
