Cups of Vanilla Cream with red fruits

Although there are countless recipes for varied creams, with some of the richest results, I assure you that the flavor of this vanilla cream with red berries is so soft and delicate that it will captivate you. A single teaspoon of these little glasses is enough to totally surrender to it and turn it into THE VANILLA CREAM, with capital letters, par excellence.

This delight is an English cream with all the aroma, flavor and elegance of vanilla. In addition, it is very easily prepared, but for it to be worthy of such exaltation, some prerequisites must be taken into account. A small toll to pay compared to the great result obtained. Nothing that cannot be done at home, with a little patience and foresight.

Considerations to take into account

• It may seem obvious, but it is worth noting that, in recipes like this, with few ingredients, it is very important that they are of the best quality. In the case of eggs and vanilla, as fresh as possible. And, of course, a good cream.
• We will use fresh and aromatic vanilla pods and let them marinate in the cream all day before. We know a pod is cool if it's flexible (we can even roll it around our finger easily) and it looks shiny. To get all the aroma, we will open them from top to bottom with a very fine-tipped knife and scrape inside to remove the seeds (you have to make a longitudinal cut, without cutting completely). We will put seeds and pods with the cream in an airtight jar and leave it in the fridge, so that the fat particles of the cream absorb and fix the aromas of vanilla.
• Of the eggs we are only going to use the yolks, which we will have to whiten with the sugar. To do this, both ingredients must be beaten for several minutes, until the mixture has foamed and doubled its volume. This step is very important so that the cream ends up having a better texture, much more homogeneous, smooth and without lumps.
• It is necessary to control the temperature well. As it is an English cream, it has a very smooth and light texture, with less body than pastry cream. You have to heat it, stirring constantly so that it doesn't stick to the bottom or make lumps, with a tongue or a spatula, until the cream begins to thicken and the spatula will stick (see "Notes" ). In any case, it should not exceed 85 °C, since if so, it would thicken too much.
• Once we have the cream ready, we must let it cool to room temperature in a container or tray. When we transfer it to that container, we will strain it with a fine mesh strainer to eliminate any possible remains or lumps that may have remained, and we will cover it with the skin (in contact with the cream) with plastic wrap, to prevent it from forming a layer. .

This cream could be perfectly eaten alone, without even noticing. But I suggest that you accompany it with the red fruits that you like the most. Presented in glasses, in ramekins or in mini cocottes, and topped with a few raspberries or wild strawberries, you will have an exceptional dessert.

You will see that the recipe is very easy to make and, with the indicated tips, the result is luxurious. Let's go with her!

Ingredients (4 servings)

• 330 g liquid cream (35% fat)
• 2 vanilla pods
• 110 g of egg yolk (about 5 or 6 yolks, depending on the egg)
• 55g sugar
• Raspberries, wild strawberries or a few chopped strawberries
• Strawberry syrup or coulis to decorate (optional)

Preparation

1. The day before, cut the vanilla pods lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Put pods and seeds with the cream in an airtight container and let it marinate in the fridge.
2. Heat the marinated cream with the seeds and the vanilla pods in a saucepan over low heat. Leave the pods together with the cream while it heats up.
3. Put the yolks in a bowl with the sugar and blanch them for a few minutes, until they double in volume. You can do it by whisking in the KitchenAid with the balloon attachment, or by hand with a wire whisk.
4. When the cream begins to boil and rises, remove the saucepan from the heat and pour more or less half of the content over the blanched yolks, stirring constantly. Stir gently until well mixed.
5. Now pour the mixture of cream, yolks and sugar into the saucepan with the rest of the cream and return it to the fire. Heat it on low power and keep stirring.
6. When you see the cream napping the spatula or check with a kitchen thermometer that it has reached 85 °C, remove the saucepan from the heat.
7. Strain the cream through a fine mesh strainer into a container, cover it with plastic wrap and let it cool to room temperature. Wash the vanilla pods and let them dry (in NOTES I explain how you can reuse them).
8. When the cream has tempered, remove the film and drain it with your fingers, so as not to lose any cream that may have stuck. Store the cream in the fridge until it is time to serve it, so that it cools down and takes on a bit of body in a jar with an airtight seal.
9. Lightly beat the cream when you take it out of the fridge and distribute it in ramekins or glasses , filling them halfway. Add some raspberries or the chosen red berries, a little coulis or syrup and cover it with cream, without filling the glass. Put some raspberries or red berries on top and decorate with a little syrup or strawberry coulis. Serve and enjoy.

Grades

• To check that the cream has the point of thickness that we are looking for, it has to cover the spatula. To check, just run a finger across the cream-covered spatula and if the edges are clearly separated, it's ready.
• To whiten the yolks with the sugar we can use an electric whisk, a robot or beat them by hand with a manual whisk. I encourage you to do it this way at least once, because it is very curious to see how the consistency of the mixture changes during the process.
• In addition to being a dessert on its own or with red berries as in the recipe, this vanilla cream is exceptional to accompany any chocolate preparation. Try a coulant, with the lava cake that we have on the blog, served with a piece of brownie, with some truffles or with some exquisite French toast. The combination of flavors is delicious.
• You can use it as a base for other preparations, such as ice creams or mousses. And, of course!, it is the perfect cream to prepare a most French dessert, the floating island.
• Once clean and dry, put the vanilla pods inside the sugar pot that you usually use. You will easily obtain a delicious homemade vanilla sugar.
• The whites that are not used in this recipe can be frozen for when you want to use them. Leave them in a jar in the freezer for when you want to make meringues or you can add them to your tortillas.