I’m not particularly fond of scary movies (unless I know exactly what’s going to happen ahead of time). I HATE clowns and dolls. And I cannot step inside a haunted house. My anxiety would never let me enjoy any of those things. BUT, I love costumes, candy and coming up with fun Halloween-themed food! 🙂 If I could, I’d run a blog based ONLY on Halloween food! That’s how much I enjoy the process of coming up with a deliciously-spooky idea for Halloween party snacks, treats and desserts. But since it won’t make sense to do that all year long, just the whole month of October will do. 🙂 Today’s recipe is a bloody easy to make Red Velvet Creme Anglaise (or as I like to call it, Bloody Red Velvet Pouring Custard which I use in this Halloween chocolate skull cake. This red velvet custard is such a great dessert on its own, and it’s super simple to make. You can make it ANY TIME OF THE YEAR because it complements all kinds of desserts as a yummy pouring sauce. So you could call it red velvet creme anglaise (or red velvet pouring custard) any other time of the year, and then call it a bloody custard sauce for Halloween. 🙂
This red velvet custard sauce was inspired by my own Red Velvet Popsicles (Harley Quinn Popsicles). The combination of chocolate and red coloring gives really deep red color that’s gorgeous and perfect for replicating a blood-like effect for fun Halloween treats. Last year I made Red Velvet Hot chocolate, and this year I’m pouring this Red Velvet Creme Anglaise on ALL my desserts! The trick to making a good creme anglaise is patience. You can’t rush a good custard sauce. You can take a short cut and add some cornstarch (cornflour) to prevent curdling (or make the eggs more resistant to heat), but a true custard does not require that. It envelops your dessert in a luscious, creamy, thick but pourable sauce that’s just sweet enough, and tastes richly of vanilla. Check out my comprehensive post on types of custard for everything you need to know about making delightful custards!
To make this red velvet creme anglaise, I added two extra ingredients – bittersweet chocolate and red coloring. So this red velvet custard is still just as luscious, creamy and thick, but it also has a great bittersweet chocolate and vanilla flavor. Here I whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until the mix is pale and thick. You don’t HAVE to do this, you can just lightly whisk the egg yolks till the mix is smooth instead. For example, when I want a custard in a hurry, I only whisk the egg yolks until they’re smooth, but here I whisked a bit longer as I feel it makes the custard that much lighter and dreamier. Chocolate is then dissolved in warm milk with red coloring (make you use red coloring that has no taste, some have a very bitter taste). The warm chocolate milk is then tempered into the fluffy egg yolk mix and heated again until it’s thick and coats the back of a spoon thickly (but evenly). It’s this second heating step where you need some patience. You have to stay there and stir the sucker. Get a spoon and get your arm ready for those figure 8 stirs, because you need to do that for at least 5 minutes on low heat. If you heat it too high, the custard at the bottom will curdle and set (red velvet scrambled eggs anyone?). And if you stop stirring, you’ll have the same issue.
After you do the custard test (a thick coating on the back of a spoon), let the red velvet custard cool down (away from the heat), and then you should ALWAY pour it through a sieve to remove ANY egg bits or scrambles pieces, just to be sure. Store the pouring custard in a seal-able bottle or jar. It can be refrigerated for up to 5 -7 days. Since this red velvet creme anglaise is so easy to make, I just make it as needed, and I don’t end up keeping it in the fridge for too long anyway. You can serve this red velvet custard (or Halloween-worthy bloody custard sauce) warm, cold or at room temp. We usually love it at room temp. or slightly warm. Use this red velvet custard over any pudding or dessert where you’d normally use chocolate sauce and/or custard. It’s SO SO GOOD! 🙂 Here, I made a classic vanilla pound cake and poured this delicious pouring custard over the slices of cake. I’ll be sharing a really fun cake recipe next week, where I used this red velvet custard. So make sure to subscribe or follow me to get the latest scoop. 🙂
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