Vanilla Vla?

[L.A. Stewart - way upstat]

_roberto_ wrote:
Cool that so many people mention Vla!
Never knew it was typically Dutch..
You can make it yourself actually.
Maybe I will post the recipe but I have to ask my mum how to do it first

...by any chance does anyone have a recipe for Vanilla Vla? It would bring me back to my childhood...a great comfort food for me. Thank you. LA

[Pets'R'us]

Waiting for PanNan to see this request...
I have a recipe for it..but in this case it is not as good as what I can buy in the supermarket here in Holland.( I make it as a sub when we live abroad) .so I did not post it.
I hope someone might have a good recipe for you!

[L.A. Stewart - way upstat]

I've heard it is very similar to creme anglaise....I don't think that's true....but I'm trying desperately to find the recipe. It can't be that that hard. I will consult my mum to see if she can dig one up. She's nearly 80 years old...but if I get it, I will post it! Anyone..help. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[Molly53]

From the web:

Dutch Custard
Vla is best compared with custard. But custard usually is eaten as a sort of sauce, with apple pie, cake or fruit. Vla is eaten the way it comes.
When I was a child you could only buy vanilla or chocolate vla, and then we got a coffee caramel variety called "Hopjes" after a famous Dutch sweet. Today ,in the dairy rows in our Dutch supermarkets, we can choose from at least 15 different varieties. As with all things, the best vla you make your self. When you bought to much milk and the expiration date is getting near, dont worry, cook a bowl of vla. You can make vla two ways: 1, the rich luxurious way with eggs or 2, the simple way with corn flour or custard as the main binding agent. Using corn flour will give your vla a neutral color. Custard will color it yellow.

Vla with eggs
1 ltr milk
2 eggs
40 gr corn flour or custard
60 gr of sugar
Bring all but 6 tbsp of milk almost to the boil. Mix the corn flour or the custard with 6 tbsp of milk. Mix this in with the milk that is almost boiling. Keep whisking wile it gently boils for 5 minutes.
Whisk the eggs and the sugar. Add 4 tbsp of hot "vla". Add the egg mixture to the "vla" and take the pan of the heat. Keep on whisking for a minute.


Simple Vla
1 ltr milk
40 gr of custard or corn flour
50-60 gr of sugar
Mix the flour with the sugar and 4 tbsp of milk. Make the rest of the milk boil, add the custard mix and keep on stirring wile it boils gently for 3 minutes. Take of the fire.


Cooling Down
Vla has the nasty habit of forming a fleece on top when it cools down. To prevent this you can do 2 things:
1- you sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on top, or
2- you put the pan in a larger pan of cold water, and keep whisking every 5 minutes until the vla is luke warm.

Different Tastes
For real vanilla, start with simmering the milk with a cut open vanilla pod for 20 minutes. Take out the pod, and (optional) scrape out the marrow and add to the milk. You could use 2 bags of vanilla sugar instead.
For chocolate you have two options. You can melt real chocolate in the simmering milk, or you could add 40gr of cocoa powder to the sugar.
For caramel you should caramelise 125gr of white castor sugar in a pan. When the sugar has tanned enough, take the pan of the fire, add 2 tbsp of cold water to stop the cooking proces, and now add (optional 125ml cream and)the boiling milk. Stir until the caramel is dissolved. Don't use anymore sugar for the further preparation of the vla except for some vanilla sugar.
For coffee, mix in some nescafe.

Vla Specials
Coupe W.A.(after our crown Prince, whose surname is van Oranje) 250ml of cream with 2 tbsp of sugar, whipped. A tin of frozen concentrated orange juice, defrosted. 4 to 6 tbsp of orange liqueur. Gently mix all the ingrediënts in a liter of plain vla. Serve in a nice glass. Decorate with some tinned mandarin oranges and a fancy cooky. Serves 6 to 8.
Coupe Kaluah. 250ml of cream with 2 tbsp of sugar, whipped. 4 to 6 tbsp of Kahluah Coffee liqueur. Gently mix all the ingrediënts in a liter of coffee flavoured vla. Serve in a nice glass. Decorate with some chocolate coffee beans. Serves 6.


No Milk
When you use coconut milk in the same amount as normal milk, you get a great vla for those that are lactose intolerant or dont eat dairy products for other reasons. It tastes realy nice even if you don't have any of the fore mentioned reasons. You could try the same with soy milk. I have not yet experimented with this.

[PanNan]

Thanks for finding and posting that Molly. I've tried many recipes and haven't found the right one yet. Most are too runny/thin. I'll give these a try and see if they work better. I assume the corn flour would be like our corn starch.

I'm thinking of planning a visit to the Netherlands this winter, and vanilla vla is one of the first things I'm going to eat!

[L.A. Stewart - way upstat]

Molly, Molly, Molly!

I can NOT thank you enough! I don't know where you found it, but I am ever so grateful! Thanks a TON!...of Vla that is! LA

[-Sylvie-]

Okay, I haven't got a recipe for Vla, even though I love it, but I have another tip for avoiding a skin to form on things like Vla, custard or German style pudding, that is healthier than sprinkeling sugar and less hassle than stirring every five minutes.

Once you have cooked everything, pour it into a bowl and cover the top with cling film. By that I don't mean the top of the bowl, but directly on top of the Vla/custard/pudding, all the way to the edges of the bowl and going up them. That stops air from getting to it and will result in no nasty skin!