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Fresh Strawberries With Almond Crème Anglaise

5.0(197)

Strawberries, like asparagus, peaches, corn and a few other joys of summer, are perhaps best enjoyed unadulterated, at least at the beginning of the season, when the thrill of their newness is fresh. Later on, when you’re on your 10th quart, it’s time to tinker. I craved a kind of crème anglaise, a cooked but marginally thickened custard. But I wanted something a little more exciting than the standard vanilla-scented one. By jolting the custard with toasted almonds, I met that need, and with only a tad more work than in the original version. Strain out the cooked almonds if you want a creamy sauce (and you should). Served warm, over good strawberries, with slivered almonds as a garnish, this is almost as good an option as shortcake.

by Mark Bittman·published 2009-06-03

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Quick, Dessert

Servings

(6–8)

Total time

3 min

Calories / serving

362 kcal

Ingredients (6)

serves

3/4 cup chopped almonds plus 1/2 cup lightly toasted slivered almondsalmond
1 cup milkmilk
1 cup creamcream
1/2 cup sugarsugar
4 egg yolksegg
6 to 8 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and quarteredstrawberry

Instructions (3 steps)

01Put chopped almonds in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until fragrant and beginning to toast, about 3 minutes.
02Add milk, cream, sugar and egg yolks, and whisk well to combine. Cook, whisking almost constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil.
03While sauce is still hot, strain it through a sieve and let cool a bit. To serve, put a cup of strawberries in each dish, drizzle with warm sauce and garnish with slivered almonds. Sauce will keep, tightly covered, in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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