Buttery and rich, a great hollandaise sauce recipe is the ideal accompaniment to eggs, asparagus or fish. Once you know how to make Hollandaise sauce (plus how to fix it if it goes wrong) you’ll be whipping up a perfect Eggs Benedict for brunch every weekend…
What is hollandaise sauce and what is Hollandaise made from?
Hollandaise sauce is a gently-cooked, silky emulsified sauce made with egg yolks, butter, reduced vinegar (that is sometimes infused with aromatics) and a little lemon juice to season.
Which butter is best for hollandaise?
Unsalted butter is best for hollandaise sauce recipes. As there is a large proportion of butter in the recipe, and salt levels can vary vastly between brands, you can end up with an overly salty sauce. Using unsalted allows you to control the salt levels with precision.
Which vinegar can I use for hollandaise?
White wine vinegar is best - it is colourless and has a pleasing acidity without impacting the flavour. You can substitute it for lemon juice or another pale vinegar such as cider vinegar, if you prefer.
How do you make a vinegar reduction for hollandaise?
Put vinegar in a pan with aromatics such as a bay leaf, a few peppercorns and a blade of mace.
Why do you use a vinegar reduction for hollandaise?
Reducing the vinegar before adding it to the hollandaise burns off some of the tart flavours and drives off excess water. It also allows the vinegar to be infused by the flavoursome herbs and spices, which then make for a more delicious sauce.
How do you make a vinegar reduction?
Put vinegar in a pan with a small piece of bay leaf, a few peppercorns and a blade of mace. Heat and bring to the boil, then reduce the vinegar down until it’s about ⅓ of the original volume.
Can you use straight vinegar for hollandaise?
You can use unreduced vinegar if you’re short on time. Simply use the same amount of straight vinegar as stated for the reduction - e.g if your recipe says to use 1/2tsp of the reduced vinegar, use 1/2tsp of unreduced vinegar.
What’s the best way to make hollandaise?
The best way is whatever works for your needs. There are several methods to making hollandaise - some are by hand, and some use blenders or food processors. Some even use a microwave or other ‘cheat's’ Hollandaise sauce techniques, but these versions can need extra ingredients or butter/egg yolks in unusual proportions and won’t have quite the same texture or characteristic flavour.
Although it takes a bit longer, making hollandaise by hand gives you really precise control over the texture and temperature and in many ways is more foolproof. If making a small amount of hollandaise (with one or two egg yolks) it’s usually easier to make it by hand as there simply isn’t enough ingredients to coat the blades of the blender or food processor.
If you need to make a lot of hollandaise and want to make it quickly too, a blender/food processor works well, but is less foolproof and can lead to things going wrong if the temperature of the butter isn’t right, or the ingredients don’t emulsify.
How do you make hollandaise by hand?
First, make your reduction and cube your butter. set a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Put the egg yolks, reduction and a small pinch of salt together in a bowl with a little piece of butter, and cream together with a wooden spoon until combined and thick. Continue beating in one cube of butter at a time until incorporated. As the sauce cooks, you’ll notice it thickening up. At this point, you can add 2-3 cubes of butter at a time, until all of it is incorporated. Season the sauce with a little lemon juice and salt if needed.
Why do you need to make hollandaise in a bain marie?
The heat underneath the bowl you make hollandaise in needs to be gentle so the egg yolks don’t overcook and make the sauce curdle.
How do you make hollandaise in a food processor or blender?
Put the egg yolks and reduction into the machine, and whiz together. If your machine allows it, with the blades running, add hot melted butter - a little at a time - until the mixture emulsifies and thickens. If the blender has a lid, add the hot melted butter a little at a time, blending well after each addition.
How do you fix a runny hollandaise?
Blenders tend to make runny hollandaise - it’s usually because the butter was too cold and hasn’t cooked the eggs enough to thicken them. To thicken a runny hollandaise, tip the mixture into a heatproof bowl set over simmering water and whisk over the heat until thickened.
How do you fix a split hollandaise?
Hollandaise can split when overheated. If the sauce starts looking greasy, it might be on the verge of splitting. Keep a bowl of cold water on hand to set the sauce bowl into to help cool it down, or whisk in a few drops of cold water.
If your hollandaise sauce splits, you can rescue it by putting a fresh egg yolk into a clean bowl set over a bain marie, then gradually whisk the split hollandaise into yolk.
How do you thin-down Hollandaise that’s too thick?
Hollandaise that’s on the thick side can be let down with a few drops of water. Don’t add too much as you’ll end up with a runny hollandaise.
How do you make a cheat's Hollandaise sauce
You can make an easy Hollandaise sauce using just three ingredient - 125g chopped butter, 100g mayonnaise and 1tsp lemon juice. Melt the butter in a small pan, remove from heat and cool for a few minutes. In a medium bowl, gradually whisk the melted butter into the mayonnaise. Whisk in the lemon juice, then adjust seasoning with lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with the straws.
How do you store Hollandaise?
Hollandaise can’t be stored and reheated to be exactly as it was, so for the perfect Hollandaise, it’s best made fresh as needed. You can keep the bowl hollandaise warm for up to 1hr before serving, by setting over a bowl of hot tap water, so it’s possible to prepare hollandaise a little in advance.
Hollandaise sauce recipe
Ingredients
- 2tsp white wine vinegar
- 2 medium egg yolks
- 125g of clarified or melted unsalted butter
Method
- Pour vinegar into bowl of a small food processor.
- Add egg yolks and whiz for a few seconds until combined.
- With machine running, slowly drizzle in clarified or melted butter. sauce is ready when, glossy and ingredients well combined, or emulsified.
- Hollandaise is traditionally served with poached eggs, vegetables and poached fish and shellfish. To finish sauce, season with salt, and a squeeze of lemon if desired.
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