Last night, I decided to make the Modernist Cuisine’s version of hollondaise but I found it a bit misleading. You can make traditional hollandaise in 10 minutes with a blender. This took plenty of time and preparation and a water bath as well.

The only real advantage is you can blitz hollondaise sauce on demand but there is 90 minutes maximum time you’re supposed to keep the mixture in the water bath. I will try to make this again (shaking the dispenser more vigorously) given the sauce was not creamy enough and lacked the texture of a fat hollondaise you find in a Parisian restaurant.

Pictured above is my eggs, butter mixture in a ziploc bag with aluminum clips that I used to make sure the mixture wouldn’t escape into the water bath.

Try this by taking your ingredients, eggs, butter, vinegar, etc. This does not require a water bath or circulating pump.

1. Boil the vinegar together with peppercorns and tarragon, reduce until creamy – strain and reserve.
2. Boil a large pan of water, then reduce to a simmer. Using a large balloon whisk, beat together the yolks and 2 tsp of the reduced wine vinegar in a heat proof bowl that fits snugly over the pan. (Bain Marie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bain-marie)
3. Beat vigorously until the mixture forms a foam, but make sure that it doesn’t get too hot. To prevent the sauce from overheating, take it on and off the heat while you whisk, scraping around the sides with a plastic spatula. The aim is to achieve a golden, airy foam (sabayon), which forms ribbons when the whisk is lifted.
4. Whisk in a small ladle of the warmed butter, a little at a time, then return the bowl over a gentle heat to cook a little more. Remove from the heat again and whisk in another ladle of butter. Repeat until all the butter is incorporated and you have a texture as thick as mayonnaise. Finally, whisk in lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste plus a little warm water from the pan if the mixture is too thick.