Classic Hollandaise Sauce

Name: Classic Hollandaise Sauce
Yield: Makes 300ml (½ pint).
Ingredients: Whisk 3 egg yolks with 1 teaspoon caster sugar, 1 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until well mixed and foamy.; Remove from the heat and whisk in 175 g (6 oz) softened butter, cut into pieces. Add piece by piece at first, then several at a time until the hollandaise sauce is thick but still light enough to pour. Season to taste with salt, pepper and more lemon juice.; Over a very low heat, continue whisking the egg yolk mixture until the whisk leaves a trail on the surface. This should take about 3 minutes. Be careful the bottom of the bowl doesn’t actually touch the water or the yolks may scramble.

Preparation info

Makes
300 ml
.

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Cook's Companion

By Josceline Dimbleby

Published 1991

About

Method

If the sauce separates or curdles, remove from the heat and immediately whisk in an ice cube. This lowers the temperature and usually saves the sauce. If not, start again with 2 fresh yolks, slowly whisking in the curdled sauce until a new emulsion forms.

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