Ina Garten's Genius Tip For Quick And Easy Crème Anglaise

Many of us rely on celebrity chefs to give us cooking tips, recipes, and shortcuts. For instance, Gordon Ramsay has a brilliant tip for draining pasta, writer Ree Drummond has a hack for making toast without a toaster, and Ina Garten can teach you how to get an elegant dessert on the table in no time flat with one key hack.

Anyone who has read Ina Garten's memoir, "Be Ready When The Luck Happens," knows of her love for all things French. She and her husband, Jeffrey, even have an apartment in Paris, and she is known for creating easy-to-craft versions of famous French dishes. It shouldn't surprise you that the Food Network star has a genius tip for making an impressive French-style dessert topping with very little effort.

Whenever Garten needs a topping for one of her desserts, she only has to go as far as her freezer. The celebrity chef recommends using melted vanilla ice cream for any dessert that needs a crème anglaise topping, such as chocolate souffle or apple crisp. Crème anglaise is a sweet French custard sauce that can be very labor-intensive to make, but Garten's shortcut seriously reduces the time it takes to get dessert on the table.

The Barefoot Contessa is fond of taking shortcuts with premade items from the supermarket, but her priorities are in the right place. She would rather spend time with her guests than stand at the stove stirring a fussy crème anglaise — and wouldn't you? Taking a quart of ice cream out of the freezer to thaw and then putting it in a pretty pitcher to pour over desserts can look impressive and taste great.

Other shortcuts Garten uses include cooking with jarred pasta sauce –- Rao's, to be precise — and using Hellmann's mayonnaise instead of homemade. Likewise, she'd rather buy dried pasta (she likes De Cecco) than make her own. Still, pay attention to quality for best results. Just like how Garten would tell us to use a high-quality olive oil, she'd probably recommend splurging on a good vanilla ice cream for this crème anglaise-esque trick. Look for ice cream with flecks of real vanilla bean for the ultimate vanilla flavor and a brand with a higher milkfat content. Your guests will be amazed at how delicious and rich your faux crème anglaise tastes. Your secret is safe with us.