A French Dessert

 

This week’s bake is a Floating Island Dessert from the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.

A floating island, also known as Ile Flottante in French,  is a French dessert made of a vanilla custard topped with sweet whipped egg whites cooked in a bain-marie.  The whipped egg white floats onto the custard and looks like a floating island.  The floating island dessert toppings are often a drizzle of caramel sauce, sliced almonds, or coconut.

It was also one of Julia Child’s favorite recipes and is featured in her cookbook The Art of French Cooking

Here is the recipe for the Floating Island:

Crème Anglaise Ingredients

4 egg yolks

½ cup sugar

1 ½ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Creme Anglaise Preparation

1. Scald the cream, whip the egg yolks and sugar and temper in the warm cream. Return to the stove and scald. Be sure the sauce covers the back of a spoon. Chill.

Meringue Ingredients

4 egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

Meringue Preparation

1. Whip 4 egg whites and ¾ cup of sugar to a medium firm peak.

2. Drop the meringues by scoop in a pot of scalding milk cook on both sides until firm

Sugar Art Preparation

1. Place about 1 cup of granulated sugar in a sauce pot over medium heat. The sugar will start to melt. Stir constantly until all of the sugar is dissolved and is a golden brown color. Let the sugar cool a little until strands appear when poured off a spoon.

2. This can be drizzled on top of the meringues or a grid or cage can be made by lightly oiling the back of a small bowl and drizzling the caramel on the bowl and removing once the caramel had set.

Dessert Assembly

1. To assemble the dessert, pour the creme anglaise into a bowl about 1 inch thick, then place 3 poached meringues on top and garnish with fresh berries and caramelized sugar.

Here are some pictures from the bake:

Have a Great Day !