Crème Anglaise—or English cream—with both pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin purée to create a smooth, creamy, rich cream that can be used in coffee or to top any pumpkin or fall dessert, such as maple spice pumpkin bread!

I lied. I said I was going to get this recipe to you a long time ago. Like, last fall. And I wrote it out and just needed a way to make my photos not SO BLUE, because amateur food photographer here. But life happened. A lot of life happened. Last fall/holiday season was hard and I made a decision to prioritize living and taking care of myself over branding and following the rules of blogging.

Soooo, now that fall is here again (funny how that happens every year), I’m sharing a recipe you can make for weeks to come! Pour it on all the things. Use it as a coffee creamer. Eat it with a spoon.

You’re welcome.

Pumpkin Crème Anglaise

I’m just a tad obsessed with this recipe.

One, it’s delicious. I first made it to go with pumpkin bread pudding, but it’s also a life changing coffee creamer and could honestly go with any variety of fall-ish, pumpkin desserts.

Two, it’s so easy to make. Basic creme anglaise requires you to summer milk and vanilla—usually a vanilla bean, but paste or extract will do—temper it into egg yolks and sugar, then cook all that yumminess until thickened. If you can pour with one hand and whisk with the other, you’ve got this. Below I give tips on my failsafe tempering technique

And three, it just makes me feel fancy. Creme anglaise is literally just French for English cream. It’s essentially the pourable version of pastry cream (or creme patisserie). I first heard of creme anglaise on Master Chef, and I mean, anything Gordon Ramsay approves of is good, right? At the very least, it’s not your typical, preservative-filled jarred topping or run-of-the-mill frosting. Adding it to my coffee always makes me weirdly happy, not just because it’s delicious but because I feel like I discovered a secret in combining two of my favorite things.

How to make pumpkin crème Anglaise

It’s really quite simple. Mix your milk and/or cream, pumpkin purée, and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium until steaming and bubbles begin to form, stirring frequently.

While that heats, vigorously whisk sugar, egg yolks, and spices until a little frothy.

Once the milk starts to bubble, SLOWLY pour it into the egg mixture, whisking nonstop and as quickly as you can. See note below to avoid scrambling the eggs. Once it’s all mixed in, return thew whole mixture to the saucepan and cook until it starts to simmer, whisking constantly, then turn down to low. Continue to whisk constantly, scraping the edges of the pan frequently, until thickened into a sauce-like consistency. It’s entirely up to taste how thick you let it cook to.

Enjoy!

Tips for this dessert

Temper the eggs slowly

Of all the cooking and baking shows I watch it blogs and books I read, none seem to have a foolproof method for tempering. They all just say go slowly and whisk constantly. Which sounds easy enough until you’re holding a container of hot liquid in one hand and a whisk in the other and no one is there to stop that darn bowl from scooting all over the counter while you simultaneously focusing on slow pouring and vigorous whisking.

Here’s what I do:

One splash at a time. I’ve discovered that tempering eggs goes best if I splash a bit if the hot liquid in as I whisk then pause the pouring so I have a free hand (or pinky or elbow) to hold the bowl with the eggs. I’ve found this works best for me, a splash at a time instead of a slow stream. I usually do a splash every few seconds, so it doesn’t take any longer than pouring continuously.

Increase the volume of hot liquid as you go. Once you have about 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid whisked in, you’re usually safe to pour in the rest of your liquid quickly—but don’t dump it and still whisk as you go.

Pour at least half your liquid into the eggs before returning everything to the heat (if doing at all). Many recipes call for returning the tempered egg mixture to the pan and cooking longer. I try to pour all of my hot liquid into the egg bowl so I know it’s fully cooked.

Use a rubber bottomed bowl or set on a rubber hot pad. I have a set of mixing bowls with rubber bottoms from Groupon, of all places. I try to use them for tempering when I can. If your recipe requires a glass bowl, set it on a rubber hot pad so it stays in place.

Use whole milk, cream, half and half, or all three

I’ve made this with just whole milk, just half and half, and a combination of leftover heavy cream, half and half, and lowfat milk. With just whole milk, it’s a smoother, more coffee-creamer type sauce. With a mix of higher fat dairies, it’s a thicker, creamy sauce. So, it’s up to you and what you have. Also, while nonfat milk will be lighter in calories, it will not be as creamy and could come out watery or even separated. So I can’t vouch for it.

Taste as you go

As the recipe says, you can add more of any ingredient as you cook, except for the eggs. The creme anglaise will thicken as you cook and more as it cools, so you can add more milk if it gets too thick or tastes too sweet. I usually start with 1/4 cup sugar and increase by spoonfuls, to taste. And I often add more cinnamon, because yum. I will say that doing any more pumpkin than the recipe calls for will result in a fairly pumpkin-y sauce. Which may be what you want, but I thought I’d warn you.

The pumpkin purée is optional…but delicious

I personally love the pumpkin in this recipe. It helps thicken the sauce a bit. It’s also what makes this so unique. I searched and searched and didn’t see anyone else add actual pumpkin to their creme anglaise or any other kind of pumpkin sauce. But I felt like a fraud without it, kinda like how Starbucks only recently added actual pumpkin to their Pumpkin Spice Latte.

You can leave the pumpkin out, but you may have a thinner creme anglaise. Cooking a bit longer or adding one more egg yolk will help, if that’s what you’re going for.

You might also like:

Pumpkin Creme Anglaise

prep time: 5 minutes

cook time: 10-20 minutes, depending on how thick you want it

total time: 15-25 minutes

Servings: makes about 3 cups

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups whole milk (see note)

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)

¼ cup plain pumpkin purée

2 egg yolks (save the whites for a healthy breakfast...so you can eat this for morning dessert)

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

a pinch fine sea salt

Instructions:

Whisk milk, vanilla, and pumpkin in a saucepan. Set over medium heat, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, until small bubbles start to form on the surface. Don’t let it boil.

While the milk heats, whisk sugar, egg yolks, and spices in a medium bowl until frothy (about 30-60 seconds brisk whisking).

Once milk has bubbles, SLOWLY pour it into the egg mixture, whisking quickly and nonstop. Go as slowly as possible to avoid scrambling the eggs.

Return everything to pan and whisk until it begins to simmer then turn down to low, continuing to whisk constantly and ensuring nothing hardens along the sides, until it reaches desired consistency. I just kept lifting the whisk and imagining how it might look while drizzling in a boomerang shot. So...super technical thickness. It will thicken slightly as it cools, if you’re not serving right away. If it thickens too much while cooking, add more milk. Taste as you go. You can add more of any ingredient except for eggs to reach a flavor balance you like.

Enjoy! Store leftovers in a sealed jar in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Reheat over low heat, stirring frequently, or in the microwave on low power in 30 second intervals. You may need to add some milk as you reheat, as it will thicken slightly.