It thrills me to still be able to tuck into things that I’ve always enjoyed, simply because they’re naturally gluten free. And remarkably that’s the case for this delicious, smooth and creamy brandy sauce.
I know that you can go all fancy pants when making brandy sauce and make it with flour and a roux base. But I love this simple recipe my mum always used, thickening the sauce with cornflour instead. And I really couldn’t think of anything better to pour over my Christmas pudding!
Ingredients
568ml (1 pint) full cream/whole milk
2 rounded tablespoons cornflour (check it’s 100% cornflour with no ‘may contain’ warnings)
2 level tablespoons sugar (caster or granulated will be fine)
Brandy to taste
Method
Pour most of the milk into a saucepan. Leave about 100ml in the jug or bowl.
Pop the pan on the heat and gently heat the milk until it comes to the boil.
Whilst you’re waiting for the milk to boil, add the cornflour to the remaining cold milk and blend well.
Once you spot the milk is just coming to the boil, pour in the blended milk and cornflour, whisking all the time until the sauce thickens. To give you more control at this stage, you can always pull the pan off the heat and whisk well until the sauce is nice and smooth and then return to the heat. This will prevent it from catching on the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the sugar. Taste the sauce for your own preferred sweetness and also to make sure the cornflour has cooked out. If you feel it’s a little powdery, then pop the pan back on the heat and allow the sauce to cook out a little longer.
Finally pour in your desired amount of brandy. Again taste the sauce until you’re happy with the flavour. Best to go easy with the brandy at first. As of course you can always add more but can’t take it out if you’ve been over generous.
Pour the sauce from the saucepan into a jug to serve.
And that is it. Isn’t it nice and easy? I like to leave the sauce for a moment or so before I serve up, as like custard, a skin forms over the top. I actually love the skin but I know many people don’t. So, if it’s not your thing, simply spoon it off and give the sauce a brisk stir before pouring.
Recipe notes and suggestions:
For an added touch of luxury, drizzle in a little fresh cream to the finished brandy sauce.
Switch the milk to a dairy free alternative to make the brandy sauce dairy free.
The basic recipe for this sauce without the brandy can be used to make other sweet sauce creations; add a few drops of peppermint extract or strawberry/raspberry essence and a dot of natural food colouring to the sauce to pour over your favourite pudding. Of course, just double check any addition is good to go for a gluten free diet.
Thanks for checking out this recipe for brandy sauce. I’ve also popped a quick demo of me making this sauce over on YouTube, click here if you fancy taking a look. Any questions as always, give me a shout.
For now,
Liz x
