Techniques › Sauces and stocks
Hollandaise
Intermediate Sauces and stocks
Hollandaise is a warm, buttery sauce made by whisking egg yolks over gentle heat, then slowly beating in melted butter and lemon juice.
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How do you do it?
- Whisk 3 yolks with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water in a bowl over barely simmering water.
- Keep whisking until the yolks turn pale, thicken and leave trails, about 2 to 4 minutes. Lift off the heat if the bowl gets too hot to touch.
- Off the heat, drizzle in 1/2 cup warm melted butter a little at a time, whisking constantly, until thick and glossy.
- Season with salt, a pinch of cayenne and more lemon. Hold it somewhere warm, not hot, and serve within an hour.
Why does it work?
Yolk proteins unwind with gentle heat and thicken the base, while lecithin in the yolk coats tiny butter droplets so they stay suspended in the water and lemon juice. Too much heat tightens those proteins into curds, and adding butter too fast gives the yolks more fat than they can coat, so the sauce splits.
What are the common mistakes?
- Bowl too hot — the yolks scramble into grainy bits.
- Pouring the butter in all at once — the sauce breaks into greasy liquid.
- Letting it cool — the butter firms up and the sauce turns stiff.
- Serving it to someone pregnant, very young, older or with a weak immune system — use pasteurized eggs.
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