Sweet Cream for Berries

While a dessert glass filled with mixed berries would beautifully cap a romantic meal, you can make it even more glorious by topping the berries with spoonfuls of a sweet, creamy sauce. If you’re feeling even more adventurous, stir some fine Tennessee whiskey into the sauce before serving.
About the Chef:
Wayne Kung, executive chef for Ruth’s Chris Steak House in downtown San Antonio next to Sunset Station, recommends shared desserts to end a romantic meal, and gives us his recipe for this delicious cream sauce to pour over a dish of mixed berries.
About the Restaurant
Ruth’s Chris Steak House of San Antonio has two locations with talented Executive Chefs Chris Brooks and Wayne Kung who offer delicious meals in a setting that sizzles with romance. Ruth’s Chris was named Best Steak House and Best Special Occasion Restaurant in the San Antonio Express-News 2009 Readers Choice Awards.
Sweet Cream for Berries
Serves 2
Ingredients - Reduce by 2/3
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar (divided use)
10 egg yolks, fresh out of the shell
1/3 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
Place cream and 1/2 cup of sugar in a saucepan on the stove. Mix well and heat until it starts to boil. (Be careful so that cream will not boil over.) Crack eggs to separate yolks from whites. You will not need the egg whites for this recipe. In a stainless steel bowl, mix egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla until well blended and sugar is dissolved. Whisk simmering cream into egg mixture. Transfer mixture to top half of stainless steel double boiler. Cook for 8 - 12 minutes, until sauce thickens and coats the back of the spatula, stirring constantly. Use the spatula to pull the sauce away from the sides and fold it back into the center of the bowl. Temperature should reach 165 - 175 degrees F. Pass through a fine china cap (fine mesh sieve) into a container. Place a plastic bag filled with ice cubes into the sauce, then put the saucer container into an ice bath to cool it. When cool, remove the container from the ice bath, remove the bag of ice from the container and place the container in the refrigerator. Alternate sauce: After the sauce is cool, you can whip in up to ¼ cup of Jack Daniels to make a whiskey sauce.