As I stood there halving and pitting cherries, my feet sore and swollen, I realized what I was about to do. It was late, and I was pregnant and hungry for dessert. Before me was a bowl of my grandmother’s recipe pound cake, thawed and cubed from the stash I was trying very hard to keep sequestered in the freezer for after the baby is born, and a bowl of particularly good (and expensive) mixed cherries from the farmers market. And I was about to combine them with vanilla Jello pudding because pregnant.
I sighed at the injustice I was about to commit, and took a break from the cherries to rest my feet. This was supposed to be a dessert of convenience. The pound cake came from the freezer, the cherries weren’t too big of a deal to pit, and you know, 5-minute pudding. But there must have been a reason I went to all the trouble of prepping the pound cake and cherries first while I could have had the pudding setting in the fridge but didn’t. It wasn’t too late. I could make something better. I could…rebuild it.
Creme anglaise has become as much of an extension of my body as my phone. If I were a fairy princess, where ever I walked would turn to custard topped with bruleed stepping stones; flowers would offer their vanilla nectar; the animals that followed me when I sang would be stuffed with crème patissiere and for that reason my world would be as violent as it was decadent.
Anyway, what I meant to say was that my first thought was of course to whip up a crème anglaise. But lo, I was out of vanilla extract. And almond, which was too bad because I even had slivered almonds I could have toasted and used for garnish. Orange, maybe?
But I didn’t want to separate that many eggs for a full batch, and halving the recipe still meant 4 egg whites that I’d have to dig out an ice tray to freeze because that’s too many to let go to waste. Two eggs whites could get trashed though. (Try to remember I’m super pregnant, and I just want my goddamn dessert). So, whatever I was making would include 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks, and orange extract. And milk, because I want this to be creamy. And I would have to cook it in a double boiler because I wouldn’t be baking it.
The cherry “trifles” I made? Meh. The orange creamsicle crème anglaise/curd Frankenstein I made? Not bad. Not bad…
Orange Creamsicle Sauce
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ C sugar
- 1 C milk
- ½ tsp orange extract
- pinch Taha’a vanilla salt
- 4 Tbs butter
Whisk together eggs and sugar. Whisk in remaining ingredients except the butter in a bowl set over a pot of boiling water, and whisk continuously until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time until incorporated. Transfer the bowl to another, larger bowl with ice water, and keep whisking until the mixture is cooled. If you’re not super pregnant, it doesn’t hurt to strain the sauce before the cooling process, in case of any egg solids or undissolved salt. Pour cooled sauce into a jar and chill.
Spoiled Foodie 