Easy German Vanilla Sauce Recipe (Vanillesoße)

Let yourself get seduced by the rich flavours of this German vanilla sauce. Creamy, sweet and decadent, this sauce is the perfect accompaniment for many traditional German desserts. It is a staple dessert sauce for any season. In the summer with Rote Grütze (red berry pudding) or rhubarb compote or in the winter with Germknödel (sweet dumplings), strudel or baked apples. 

You can get them ready in packets made by Dr Oetker (Affiliate Link). However, it is especially flavoursome when you make vanilla sauce from scratch without any artificial flavourings.

By popular demand, this reader-favorite recipe made it into my debut cookbook, German Kitchen-Classic Dishes!

What is German Vanilla Sauce?

German Vanilla Sauce is a thin dessert sauce, made from milk or cream, a vanilla pod, eggs and some starch. 

The recipe is very similar to that of German vanilla pudding. The difference is the amount of starch added to the mix, as pudding has a more solid texture. 

What is the difference between custard and vanilla sauce?

German vanilla sauce might at first be confused with the British custard, but there are some clear differences. Vanilla sauce is thinner and can be made with milk or a combination of milk and cream. British Custard has a thick creamy texture and is often made with double cream which is a lot richer than its German counterpart.

Vanilla sauce is primarily thickened with starch and only a little egg yolk, whereas custard is primarily thickened with eggs.  

How to make German Vanilla Sauce

There are several different methods of making this sauce. The traditional method includes a vanilla bean (affiliate link) which can be expensive and may be difficult to find. You can substitute the vanilla pod with vanilla extract (affiliate link) or vanilla sugar (see homemade vanilla sugar recipe). 

I am also going to show you a version on how to make vegan vanilla sauce further down below. 

Ingredients: 

• 500ml/ 17 fl oz whole milk
• 2 tablespoons cornflour/cornstarch (about 20 gr / 0.7 oz)
• 3 tablespoons 35 gr / 1 oz sugar 
• 1 pinch of salt 
• 1 vanilla pod (alternatively use 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (affiliate link) or vanilla sugar)
• 2 egg yolks

Recipe Steps

1. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with 4 tablespoon of milk. Mix until you achieve a smooth paste without any lumps. 
2. Place the remaining milk and sugar into a saucepan. 
3. Slice the vanilla pod open lengthways and scrape out the vanilla bean (affiliate link) pulp. Add both to the milk mixture. Alternatively, mix in the vanilla extract (affiliate link) or vanilla sugar. 
4. Bring the milk mixture to a boil. Now remove the vanilla bean (affiliate link) from the milk. (Don't discard, you can use it to make vanilla sugar).  
5. While stirring continuously pour in the starch-milk mixture. Leave to boil for a minute and then remove from the heat. 
6. In a separate bowl, combine 6 tablespoon of the hot milk mixture with the egg yolk and mix until combined. (this is to prevent the egg yolk from starting to cook before it is absorbed by the sauce). Now pour into the rest of the sauce and stir well. 

Recipe Variations 

Vanilla Cream Sauce

To make a vanilla cream sauce, which is richer and creamier than the original, replace the 500 ml milk with a mixture of 250 ml / 8 fl oz whipping cream and 250 ml/ 8 fl oz milk. 

Vegan Vanilla Sauce 

Ingredients for Vegan Vanilla Sauce 

• 500 ml soya or almond milk
• 30 gr/ 1 oz cornflour/ starch 
• 20 gr/ 0.7 oz sugar 
• 1 pinch of salt 
• 1 vanilla pod 

Vegan Vanilla Sauce Recipe 

1. In a little bowl, combine the cornstarch with 4 tablespoon of the vegan milk. Mix until you achieve a smooth paste without any lumps. 
2. Place the remaining milk and sugar into a saucepan. 
3. Slice the vanilla pod open vertically and scrape out the vanilla bean (affiliate link) pulp. Add both to the milk mixture. Alternatively, mix in the vanilla extract (affiliate link) or sugar. 
4. Bring the milk mixture to boil for a minute and then remove from the heat. 
5. If you want to give your vanilla pudding a yellow tint, add a pinch of turmeric (this should not affect the taste).

How to make my Vanilla Sauce more yellow? 

The sauce will not be as yellow as you expect from instant vanilla sauce mixes. This is because we are using all-natural ingredients. 

The egg yolks give the vanilla sauce a slight yellow tinge. For some reason, I find the egg yolks in Germany a lot more yellow than in the UK (do not ask me why). 

You can add a teaspoon of yellow food colouring to the sauce. Alternatively, for a more natural ingredient, I like to use a tiny pinch of turmeric. This does not affect the flavour of the sauce, only the colour. 

What to eat with Vanilla Sauce?

The possibilities are endless. There are a lot of German desserts with vanilla sauce. In Germany, they tend to use vanilla sauce instead of whipped cream. I tried to create a list of my favourite desserts.  

• German dumplings with vanilla sauce (Dampfnudeln mit Vanillesoße or Germknödel) 
• Apple Strudel  
• Rote Grütze 
• Rice Pudding 
• Bread Pudding 
• German Waffles with Fresh Fruit and Vanilla Soße 
• Apple Cake 
• Baked Apple (Bratapfel mit Vanillesoße)

Storage Instructions

How long does homemade vanilla sauce stay good? 

If you have some vanilla sauce leftover, pour it in a jar or airtight container. Store in the fridge. It should stay good for up to two days. 

Recipe