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1
Bring the milk to just below boiling in a heavy saucepan. Add the split vanilla pod, remove from heat, and steep for 15 minutes. The raw milk smell will give way to a clean vanilla note — the infusion is complete when that is the only aroma rising from the pan.
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2
Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar together in a bowl until the mixture is pale and the sugar has dissolved. Add the hot infused milk slowly, whisking constantly, a ladleful at a time, so that the first heat shock does not scramble the yolks. The mixture should look homogeneous and flow smoothly from the whisk — no streaks of unmixed yolk.
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3
Return the combined mixture to the saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously in a figure-eight pattern that covers the entire base of the pan; no part of the base should be unagitated for more than three seconds. As the cream approaches temperature, attend to three signals simultaneously: the sound of stirring shifts from a low, loose liquid-moving sound to a slightly thicker, slower sound as viscosity increases; the resistance against the spoon grows perceptibly; and, at 85°C, the raw egg note in the aroma disappears, leaving only vanilla and cooked cream. This is where the dish lives or dies — the window between 83°C and 87°C is four degrees wide and the upper boundary is irreversible. Perform the nappe test: dip a wooden spoon into the cream, hold it horizontally, and draw one finger across the back. At 83°C the line holds but trembles faintly at its edges. At 85°C the line is clean and stable. At 87°C the edges of the cream on the spoon show the first small granules — the threshold has been crossed. Remove from heat the instant the line holds clean and clear.
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4
Strain the anglaise immediately through a fine sieve into a cold bowl set over ice water. Stir briefly to arrest cooking. The finished cream should be pale golden, perfectly smooth, and coat the back of the spoon without any granular texture visible on the surface.