oVanillesoße is the little black dress of sauces. Honestly, it complements every dessert or Nachtisch. Tasty Vanilla sauce softens the tartness of Rote Gruetze, adds an extra dimension to Apfelstrudel, and magically transforms ordinary chocolate pudding into a fancy dessert. My Oma always kept packets of instant Vanillesoße in her “packet drawer” (you know the one… it had packets of instant pudding and Knorr Soup Mixes). However, those packets can become quite expensive when you have to pay to import them. Fortunately, making Vanilla Sauce from scratch is almost as easy as opening a packet. Follow my simple Vanilla Sauce recipe, and you won’t have to stuff your luggage full of little packets again. (Which leaves room for other souvenirs!)
Serve with Rote Grütze
(You’ll find the recipe in my Easy German Cookbook)
Vanilla Sauce Recipe
The recipe takes only around 5 to 10 minutes, but once the mixture starts to boil, you don’t have time to fool around. Have your egg yolks ready in one bowl, and your cornstarch milk mixture prepared in another bowl. Set both near the stove.
You cannot skip the step where you warm the egg yolks with some of the hot milk. You will end up with scrambled eggs. And while scrambled eggs can be delicious, in Vanilla Sauce, it’s a little off-putting.

Vanilla Sauce Recipe - Vanillesoße - the Perfect Dessert Topping!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Egg YOLKS
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the Milk with the cornstarch. Whisk until smooth, set aside.
- Separate the eggs, put the yolks in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the rest of the milk, the sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to boil.
- Whisk in the cornstarch/milk mixture. While continuing to whisk, let it all return to a boil. Let it boil for 30 more seconds, then remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Use a ladle to scoop approximately 1/3 cup of the hot milk over the egg yolk. Quickly whisk the eggs and milk together.... then pour the egg mixture into the milk still in the saucepan. Keep whisking for another minute so that it gets combined completely.
- Set aside and let cool.
- (It may form a skin... just pull that off. And if you want to insure that the sauce is extra smooth, pour it through a sieve)
- If you want it extra smooth, pour the sauce through a sieve to catch any "scrambled eggs" that might have happened.
- Can be served warm or cold.
Notes
You can find the recipe for Rote Grütze in my Easy German Cookbook.
Looking for more easy German Recipes? Try my Easy German Cookbook! It’s packed with 80 traditional recipes made simple for the American Kitchen.
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Easy German Cookbook: 80 Classic Recipes Made SimpleEasy German Cookbook SIGNEDGermanGirl Shop
Step by Step Vanilla Sauce Recipe
Separate the eggs, and place the yolks in a bowl. You won’t need the whites… save them for something else.
Measure out the cornstarch, add 1/4 cut of the milk. Mix completely. Set near the stove
Bring the milk, sugar, vanilla extract and salt to a boil in a small saucepan
Once it comes to a boil, whisk in the cornstarch mixture, bring back to a boil, and let thicken.
When the milk feels thicker, scoop out some with a ladle, and add to the egg yolks. QUICKLY whisk the yolks and the milk together.
Then pour it back into the pot. Continue to cook for a bit, then remove from the stove to cool.
Then enjoy… warm or cold.
my Mother added a little Riesling to the Vanilla Sauce for an added touch of Taste..
That sounds AMAZING!
Love this site, am wondering if by chance you may have a very old recipe for German roasted walnuts. Don’t have the recipe so not sure what all is in it, but I think 8 cups of walnut halves, they were covered in a white looking sauce that may have been beaten egg whites, maybe a teeny bit of cinnamon, these were not sweet, but maybe a touch of sugar perhaps. Do you have an old German recipe for such? We were gifted the nuts during the holidays and were refused the recipe stating “old German family recipe…” Sad when people do that.
Unfortunately, I don’t have one in my files, but I will look for one