A Guy and His Oven: The Last of the Basics: Sauces & Syrups

I am SO excited to finally get into some baking, which is right around the corner. I took last night and today to knock out all of the sauces and syrups, which is the last section of the Basics chapter before I get to the real stuff. I had to cruise through ten recipes, so I'll get right to it, starting with the Rum Sauce on page 46.

There is nothing spectacular about this one...mix rum, water, and sugar, then slowly bring to a boil over low heat. That's it.

I decided that I needed some sort of rating scale for these recipes, and started to make notes in my book. I decided to keep track of each recipe's thickness, tastiness, and versatility (how easily modified the recipe could be). For the Rum Sauce, I graded it as (all on a scale from 1-10, 1 being low, 10 being highest/best):

Thickness: 2

Tastiness: 6

Versatility: 9 (this technique could be done with just about and liquor)

Next up was a series of sauces called sabayons, starting with the Sabayon on page 46.

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest in a large heatproof bowl.

When it turns pale and thick you are ready to add the fortified wine of your choice.

I selected Madeira as my fortified wine because it was also used in a later recipe, and I wanted to compare techniques. For the next two pictures, I wanted to compare the change in volume between "before" and "after" going on the double boiler. Here is the before (look at where the whisk wires are and how much is covered):

Here is the after:

That's all there is to this one! The final product is a bit vinous, which is understandable considering the ingredients.

Thickness:5

Tastiness:7

Versatility: 8

Third up today was the Milk Sabayon on page 47, which is essentially a kid-friendly version of the previous recipe.

The egg yolks, sugar, and salt are whisked on the double boiler, instead of being whisked before being introduced to heat.

Then the vanilla and milk are added in, thickened, and then you are done. Overall, it has a decent consistency, but not a whole lot of adult flavor.

Thickness:6

Tastiness:5

Versatility: 2

Moving on, I tackled the Sabayon Sauce With Madeira on page 47.

Egg yolk and sugar are whisked in a double-boiler (surprise) and then Madeira is added once the egg mixture is thickened and increased in volume. I set up my mise en place to make sure I didn't overcook anything.

Pretty simple stuff. This recipe had much more an alcohol burn to it than the previous Madeira one, so I docked it a few points for that.

Thickness:5

Tastiness:4

Versatility: 8

The half-way mark was the Red Currant Sauce on page 47. I didn't want to buy red currant jelly just for the sake of this recipe, so I substituted it with raspberry jelly. If anything, I was learning a technique and would be testing its versatility.

Amazingly simple, incredibly quick, and surprisingly tasty...this was a winner. You could use just about any jelly you wanted to serve a multitude of uses. This recipe got a star next to it.

Thickness:4

Tastiness:7

Versatility: 10

Now it was on to something a little more technically difficult, the Apricot and Kirsch Sauce on page 48.

The recipe calls for five apricot halves, so had some basic prep work to do.

These went into a saucepan with the sugar and a bit a water to help cook them in a syrup.

Towards the end of the cooking time, the skins of the apricots were easily removed.

The syrup and apricots were introduced to Mr. Immersion Blender to help bring them together and become friends.

The rice flour and kirsch were added in after that.

Everything was whisked over a gentle heat until the starches in the rice flour expanded to thicken the sauce.

You now have a very flavorful and fruity sauce with moderately high thickness. I liked the flavor of this quite a bit, and could easily see the same technique used with a variety of fruits. This also got a star next to it.

Thickness:8

Tastiness:8

Versatility: 7

It was time for the sabayon technique to be used again, as well as repeating the use of apricots with the Apricot Sauce on page 48.

The apricot halves are cooked in a bit of water, but this time there was no sugar added at this point.

The egg yolks and sugar are whisked together before being placed on a double boiler.

This time I blended the apricots out of the saucepan because I needed that saucepan for the bottom half of the double boiler.

Look familiar?

When the egg mixture has thickened, it is time to add the apricot puree.

That's about it...overall my feelings are mixed when trying to decide which fruit sauce was better. This sauce was thinner and more difficult to achieve, but the taste was through the roof.

Thickness:5

Tastiness:9

Versatility: 7

Bearing down the homestretch was the Syrup for Babas on page 48. I was excited about this tastefully-named (more on that in the next entry) recipe because it was something I was actually going to be using in the very near future.

The recipe asked for "pared zest" from a lemon. I wasn't too sure what that was, so I had to Google it. It is strips of zest using a peeler instead of a grater or microplaner.

Everything gets thrown into a saucepan and brought to a boil.

As soon as it comes to a boil remove the vanilla bean and pared zest, and you are done! This isn't terribly thick stuff, but does have an interesting flavor. I'm curious to see how it develops over the course of a couple of days.

Thickness: 2

Tastiness:7

Versatility: 2

Second-to-last was the Creme Anglaise on page 49, which on a side note is often used as the foundation for ice cream.

A lot of egg yolks are whisked together in a heat proof bowl.

The milk, sugar, and vanilla are brought to a boil.

Like my previous entries, these had to be tempered together.

If you go back a couple of entries, you will see my quick introduction to a bain marie. I had to use it again.

Be VERY careful to not let this boil. The albumen in the egg will curdle very quickly. This sauce will thicken just ever so slightly, and then you are done.