Hollandaise Sauce
Hollandaise has a frightening reputation, but there is really only one risk: temperature. Egg yolk starts to set at about 70 °C and turns to scrambled egg above 80 °C, at which point no amount of whisking saves it. So you work over a barely steaming bath, keep a hand on the bowl, and lift it off the moment the mixture thickens.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Challenging
- Per serving
- 310 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
A stick blender is more reliable: yolks and lemon in a tall jar, hot butter in a thin stream, and the emulsion forms in 30 seconds.
Makes: about 250 ml
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Clarify the butter
Melt it gently, skim the foam and let it stand for 2 minutes. The white milk solids settle; pour off the clear fat and leave them behind. With less water in the butter the emulsion holds far better.
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Step 2: Set up the bath
Bring a little water in a pan to the point where it barely steams, then turn the heat down. The bowl sits above the water, never touching it — direct contact overheats the yolks.
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Step 3: Whisk the yolks to the ribbon
Beat the yolks with the water for 3–4 minutes. The mixture pales, doubles and falls from the whisk in a ribbon that holds for a second. That is roughly 65–70 °C, the working limit.
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Step 4: Judge the heat by hand
Lift the bowl off the pan now and then and keep whisking on the worktop. If the base feels hot to the touch you are close to curdling — take it off straight away.
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Step 5: Add the butter
Off the bath, pour the warm butter (around 50 °C) in a thin stream while whisking constantly. Rushing causes exactly the same failure as in mayonnaise: the droplets never get broken small enough.
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Step 6: Season
Whisk in the lemon juice, salt and cayenne. The sauce should fall slowly from a spoon and leave a trail behind it.
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Step 7: Rescue a split sauce
Off the heat, whisk in a tablespoon of ice water — that fixes most cases. If it does not, whisk a fresh yolk with a teaspoon of water over the bath and dribble the broken sauce into it drop by drop.
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Step 8: Keep it warm
Serve at once or hold it at 50–55 °C in a bowl over warm water or a flask. Over direct heat hollandaise splits in seconds, and it cannot be reheated.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Loosen a too-thick sauce with a teaspoon of warm water, not more lemon juice: extra acid destabilises the emulsion.
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Variation
Béarnaise: replace the water and lemon with white wine vinegar reduced with shallot to two spoonfuls, and add tarragon. The classic partner for steak.
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Swap
A stick blender is more reliable: yolks and lemon in a tall jar, hot butter in a thin stream, and the emulsion forms in 30 seconds.
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Storage
Hollandaise is not kept — the yolks are barely cooked. Make only what you will eat within the hour, and use the freshest eggs you can.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 310 kcal | 1,240 kcal |
| Protein | 3 g | 12 g |
| Fat | 33 g | 132 g |
| Carbohydrates | 1 g | 4 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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