Traditional English Custard (Creme Anglais) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

500 ml double cream
100 g caster sugar
7 egg yolks
1 whole vanilla pod, plump and juicy

Preparation

Put the cream and the sugar in a pan.
Slice the vanilla pod lengthways with a very sharp knife. Scrape out the seeds (they are dust-like black specks) and put these in the pan. Roughly chop the seed pod into inch-long chunks and put in the pan, too.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for five minutes.
Meanwhile, put the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk slightly to break up.
When the cream is ready, bring back to the boil briefly then quickly pour over the eggs, whisking as you do it. It is very important to keep whisking at this stage, otherwise the eggs will cook before mixing with the cream. Continue to whisk until the mixture starts to thicken, indicating that the eggs are cooked.
If this should not happen (sometimes it doesn't if my kitchen is too cold), then place back on the heat and cook very gently, stirring all the time, until it thickens.
Strain through a fine sieve to remove the bits of vanilla pod (you will still see the flecks of vanilla seeds in the mixture) and serve.