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    Home » Recipes » Frostings & Sauces

    Creamy Vanilla Sauce

    Published: Apr 3, 2024 by Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. · This post may contain affiliate links · 46 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    This is the easiest vanilla sauce recipe ever! It contains only 3 ingredients and goes perfectly on just about anything sweet like bread pudding, cakes, pancakes, or almost any dessert.

    Spoonful of creamy vanilla sauce speckled with vanilla beans inside a glass mason jar.

    When I made these chocolate pound cakes, I wanted to add a little something to it. I ended up making chocolate ganache and vanilla sauce to serve with the cakes, and honestly, our family was split 50/50 on which was better. This sauce is so good on any cake, but I find myself pouring it on non-chocolate cakes more often. In fact, it’s a staple to serve with our Buttermilk Apple Cake and Creme Brulee Bread Pudding.

    Extra dark chocolate pound cake with vanilla sauce drizzling down the sides.

    Only 3 ingredients

    With only 3 simple ingredients: heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla, this is the easiest vanilla sauce recipe in history. You’ll find yourself making it over and over again. Pour over cakes, pancakes, waffles, crepes, bread pudding, ice cream, and blondies.

    Creamy vanilla sauce slowly being poured over a slice of buttermilk apple cake.
    Vanilla Sauce being drizzled over a moist and delicious buttermilk apple cake with sliced apples on the side.

    How to make vanilla sauce

    All you need for this sauce is to heat together heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla, for a few minutes, and voila! Letting it simmer gently for about 10 minutes as the sauce reduces. That should be enough for it to thicken, but if it doesn’t, leave it for longer. It should be like thick liquid. I once forgot about it and left it on the stove for a while, luckily on very low heat, and that’s how I learned how thick and wonderful this sauce can get over time.

    Easy and delicious this 3-ingredient vanilla sauce can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for future use.

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    Helpful Tips:

    • Use quality vanilla. I use pure Traditional Mexican Vanilla or Vanilla Bean Paste for this. Don’t use artificial. My favorite vanilla comes from Blue Cattle Truck. It has a very low alcohol content (just 10%), which makes the flavor incredible. If you prefer using a vanilla bean, substitute the extract with 1 split and seeded vanilla bean. Cook the mixture with both the pod and seeds, and once the mixture is ready, discard the pod.
    • For a richer, thicker sauce, you can add butter to the recipe – up to 1 stick/113g. .
    • For a thicker consistency, you can add about 1 tablespoon cornstarch. If you do, you’ll have to whisk the mixture constantly until it’s smooth, or it can get lumpy.

    Storing Vanilla Sauce:

    Whether you make this creamy vanilla sauce ahead of time or simply have extra left over, store it in an airtight container. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to two days for best results.

    The best recipes to use this sauce with:

    • My Favorite Bread Pudding: Classic custard bread pudding with a torched creme brulee top for extra crunch and flavor.
    • Apple Cake: Cinnamon and fall spices combine with delicious apples and buttermilk in the batter.
    • Almond Cherry Cake: This simple to make, moist, light cake is full of almond flavor and unique in taste. The cherries are just a bonus!
    • Pumpkin Pancakes: These pumpkin pancakes are soft, fluffy, and full of pumpkin flavor! Made with pumpkin spices and brown sugar.
    Easy 3-ingredient vanilla sauce | prettysimplesweet.com
    4.34 from 9 votes
    Print

    Vanilla Sauce

    This is the easiest vanilla sauce recipe ever! It contains only 3 ingredients and goes perfectly on just about anything sweet!
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Total Time 15 minutes
    YIELD 2 cups
    Author Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet.

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
    • ⅓ cup (65 g /2.3 oz) granulated sugar
    • 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean – read above post)
    • Optional: up to ½ cup (1 stick/113 g) butter for more flavor and a thicker, creamier consistency

    Instructions

    1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens, 10-15 minutes (or keep cooking until desired consistency).
    2. Drizzle sauce over cakes, pancakes, waffles, bread puddings, and more. Serve warm or slightly cool (the sauce will thicken as it cools).
    3. Sauce will keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to a week.

    Recipe Notes

    Sugar: This sauce can be made with any sugar. I’ve also used coarse turbinado sugar, changing the flavor ever so slightly to a caramel-y cream sauce. It’s wonderful. It could also be made with a maple sugar and drizzled over pancakes.

    More Frostings & Sauces

    • Creamy orange curd in a jar with a spoonful of curd being removed, flanked by fresh oranges.
      How To Make Orange Curd
    • Orange Cream cheese frosting swirled in a bowl with an orange slice and frosted cupcakes on the side.
      Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
    • A jar of light purple whipped blackberry frosting made with mascarpone cheese and fresh blackberries.
      Blackberry Mascarpone Whipped Frosting
    • Reduced sugar cream cheese buttercream frosting is made with nonfat dry milk powder.
      Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting (reduced sugar)

    Reader Interactions

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      Recipe Rating




    1. וויני says

      November 29, 2014 at 11:31 am

      שבוע טוב שירן
      קודם כל אני עם ארז 🙂 גם אני מעדיפה וניל
      זה קרם וניל שאני לא מכירה, כי את מבשלת פה את השמנת המתוקה – חייבת לנסות
      תודה על החידוש!!

      Reply
    2. Jess @ whatjessicabakednext.com says

      November 30, 2014 at 10:15 am

      This vanilla sauce looks amazing! Love it Shiran!

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        November 30, 2014 at 1:55 pm

        Thanks Jess!

        Reply
    3. pamela higgins says

      June 04, 2016 at 8:32 am

      can you reheat it a day later

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        June 05, 2016 at 6:08 am

        Yes Pamela, you definitely can!

        Reply
    4. Coach Cheryl says

      September 19, 2016 at 1:21 am

      I used swerve instead of sugar, Delish!

      Reply
    5. Jenny says

      November 23, 2016 at 9:14 pm

      I made this with condensed milk and a vanilla bean. OMG amazing.

      Reply
    6. Khaleel says

      February 20, 2017 at 9:33 am

      Hi Shiran, what’s the difference between Vanilla beans and vanilla extract. I tried Vanilla Sauce in Malaysia and am in love with it. I would like to make the tastiest, best, most flavoursome vanilla…I have searched and it seems vanilla beans are harder to get hold of than vanilla extract. in addition vanilla beans seem to be more expensive…I was wondering does it make a huge difference in the taste?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        February 22, 2017 at 5:02 am

        Hi Khaleel, yes, there’s a difference in taste and vanilla bean has the best vanilla flavor, but if it’s hard for you to find, using pure vanilla extract tastes really good, too.

        Reply
    7. Hermit says

      March 02, 2017 at 2:44 am

      By “seeded”, do you mean remove the seeds from the pod but leave them in the mixture?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        March 05, 2017 at 10:03 am

        Yes, exactly. You need to add the seeds to the mixture.

        Reply
    8. catherine says

      April 24, 2017 at 8:47 pm

      how do you make it not liquidly?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        April 29, 2017 at 9:25 am

        Hi Catherine, the sauce should have the consistency of a thick liquid.

        Reply
    9. Nanette says

      June 17, 2017 at 8:39 pm

      HI Shiran, just found your site. I have gained five pounds just READING, can’t wait to try a few recipes! Beautiful job summarizing and then detailing recipes, great photos! My new “go to”! Do you have a clever trick to get the flavor of simmering vanilla beans/pods, without the black flecks? Thinking of making crème patisserie (spell check keeps replacing word!) and vanilla sauce (not together…sugar overload!). I always use pure vanilla extract, but in ice cream LOVE the richness and little flecks. In pastry creams, not so much liking the look of black pepper! I’m looking for a new source for clear vanilla since I used mine all up.

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        June 19, 2017 at 4:45 am

        Thank you Nanette! If you’re using vanilla pod, I’m not sure how you can avoid those black flecks. Personally I like their look. Otherwise, I use vanilla extract.

        Reply
    10. Peter says

      August 16, 2017 at 5:52 pm

      Just a theory.
      Could you add cinnamon to spice up the flavor?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        August 17, 2017 at 2:07 pm

        You can definitely try. Sounds good to me!

        Reply
    11. Julie says

      August 23, 2017 at 9:22 pm

      Do you need to cook it

      Reply
    12. Sharmila says

      February 22, 2018 at 6:05 am

      Just made this sauce and paired it with a marmalade pudding cake. It’s divine.
      Thank you

      Reply
    13. Sharmila says

      February 22, 2018 at 6:29 am

      Made this wonderful sauce today and paired it with a marmalade pudding cake. It tasted divine

      Reply
    14. Emily @ Emily’s Tasty Adventures says

      May 19, 2018 at 7:39 pm

      I’m making this tonight to go along with your Strawberry Cake recipe! Can’t wait to try it!!

      Reply
    15. Rose says

      October 20, 2018 at 6:50 pm

      Hi. Can you use regular milk instead of heavy cream?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        October 21, 2018 at 7:56 am

        Hi Rose, I recommend sticking to the recipe. If using milk, the sauce will be thin and not as rich.

        Reply
        • Kayte Krout says

          March 23, 2024 at 7:05 pm

          I actually did 1/3 heavy cream and 2/3 cup whole milk and mine came out pretty creamy! I did have to boil it down for quite some time but it came out delicious!!

          Reply
          • Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says

            March 24, 2024 at 2:49 pm

            Thank you, Kayte! That’s good to know. I’ve only ever made this with heavy cream.

            Reply
    16. Ingrid says

      December 12, 2018 at 2:32 pm

      Would it work as well to replace the sugar with honey or maple syrup?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        December 15, 2018 at 5:53 am

        Hi Ingrid, I don’t recommend it because maple syrup and honey have a strong flavor.

        Reply
    17. Susan Rhode says

      January 26, 2019 at 2:31 pm

      I made this sauce for some bread pudding I had made. I used a half stick of butter but next time I’ll only use about two tablespoons. This sauce was delicious! I added about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg to the finished sauce. My bread pudding had cinnamon and nutmeg in it and this sauce with nutmeg was the perfect compliment! It is very similar to what my Mom used to make as I was growing up. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!

      Reply
    18. Paul Edwards says

      May 21, 2019 at 7:25 pm

      Hi shiran have you ever made a caramel sauce using golden syrup? I did following a recipe but once cooled i stored in jars in the fridge and the next day the syrup had separated and sunk to the bottom of the jars I don’t know where I went wrong

      Reply
    19. Johanna Gibbons says

      January 01, 2020 at 10:19 pm

      Delicious!
      Can the leftover vanilla sauce be frozen?

      Reply
    20. Janet says

      April 24, 2020 at 3:47 pm

      Can you tell me how much this recipe makes? thank you

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        April 26, 2020 at 5:05 am

        About 2 cups!

        Reply
    21. Amy says

      April 28, 2020 at 4:48 pm

      This was the best. First time trying to make this sauce. My family loved it. Complimented the bread pudding

      Reply
    22. Kenn says

      May 15, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      Can I substitute the heavy cream for whipping cream?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        May 17, 2020 at 4:40 am

        Yes!

        Reply
    23. Karla Linares says

      September 17, 2020 at 11:15 pm

      Really good recipe 😋 I love it.
      I was trying to find a vanilla sauce for eat with bananas pancakes and is perfect. I will try to add some cocoa powder will see if it works… what do you think?

      Reply
      • Shiran says

        September 18, 2020 at 3:35 am

        You can, or you can add some melted chocolate. You can also try this chocolate ganache recipe or this hot fudge sauce recipe.

        Reply
    24. London says

      March 03, 2022 at 8:23 am

      Absolutely perfect! This was a huge hit for my boyfriend’s birthday strawberry shortcake. Everyone loved it, I should have made double!

      Reply
    25. Mary says

      February 07, 2024 at 10:06 am

      I love this sauce. I use it in my coffee as a substitute to white chocolate sauce. I love that I know exactly what the ingredients are, rather than the list of many hard to pronounce & full of preservatives ingredients in the ‘white chocolate’ sauces that can be purchased from the store.

      Reply
      • Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says

        February 07, 2024 at 12:30 pm

        What an excellent idea, Mary! Thank you so much!

        Reply
    26. Amy E Martin says

      December 27, 2024 at 4:10 pm

      The sauce turned out way too thin never thickened I do not recommend adding all of ingredients at once definitely add the vanilla at the very end Once you pull it off the heat

      Reply
      • Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says

        December 28, 2024 at 1:21 pm

        Hi Amy! I’ve made this sauce many many times and it always comes together perfectly and gets as thick as you’d like as it reduces over the heat.

        Reply
    27. Marilyn says

      March 11, 2025 at 10:38 am

      I was hopeful, but this sauce never thickend up. What a wast of ingredients. I have been stirring this for 1 hour already

      Reply
      • Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says

        March 12, 2025 at 2:19 pm

        If you stirred it for an hour over medium heat, it would have burned and evaporated.

        Reply
    28. Tammy says

      April 02, 2025 at 7:18 pm

      I’ve been looking for a vanilla version of chocolate syrup. Can this sauce be used in recipes?

      Reply
      • Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says

        April 03, 2025 at 3:39 pm

        Hi Tammy! I haven’t tried using it in a recipe – usually just drizzling it over desserts. What recipe are you trying to use this substitution in?

        Reply

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