Sauce Hollandaise

Units

Temperature

Servings

Ingredients

Set up a heatproof bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
Whisk the egg yolks, water and lemon juice together in the bowl. Whisk constantly over the gentle heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale, thick and doubled in volume.
Remove the bowl briefly from the heat. Add the warm melted butter in a very thin, slow stream, whisking constantly, returning to the heat only briefly if the sauce cools too much.
Once all the butter is incorporated and the sauce is thick and glossy, season with salt and cayenne if using.
Serve immediately. Hollandaise doesn’t hold well and is best made just before serving.

Put the egg yolks, water and lemon juice into the mixing bowl. Insert the butterfly whisk. Whisk 4 min / 70°C / speed 3, until pale and thickened.
With the machine running at speed 3 and no temperature set, pour the warm melted butter through the lid opening in a thin, steady stream, taking about 2 minutes to add it all.
Season with salt and cayenne if using. Use immediately.

Never let the water boil, and never let the bowl touch it. Direct heat or a hard boil scrambles the yolks in seconds; a barely simmering water bath is the whole safety margin this sauce has.
Add the butter slowly, not in a rush. A thin, constant stream lets the yolks absorb the fat gradually; pouring it in all at once overwhelms the emulsion and the sauce splits into a greasy puddle around curdled egg.
If the sauce does split, whisk a teaspoon of hot water into a fresh yolk in a clean bowl, then slowly whisk the split sauce back in; it often saves it.
Serve it immediately. Hollandaise doesn’t reheat or hold well; it thickens too much when cold and breaks when reheated.

Lemon juice can be swapped for a mild white wine vinegar reduction for a more traditional French version.
Cayenne can be omitted, or replaced with a pinch of white pepper.
Clarified butter gives a slightly more stable sauce, though whole melted butter works fine here.