Floating islands - îles flottantes - is one of these typical old fashioned French desserts that my grandmother used to prepare when I was little. The floating island is basically beaten egg whites that have been poached and are floating on a vanilla custard, topped with caramel and roasted almonds. It is extremely light and lovely, and will please children as well as adults.
This dessert is relatively easy to make. The only tricky part is not to overcook the custard (this happened to me the first time I made it), which would cause the eggs yolks to curd and turn into hard boiled eggs. Believe me, that would be a sad sight!
Ingredients (serves 4):
For the custard:
4 eggs yolks
1/2 liter milk
125g granulated sugar
A few drops of vanilla extract
For the island:
4 egg whites
2 tbsp granulated sugar
For the topping:
3 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp sliced almonds
Prepare the custard: in a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil and turn the heat off. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract until the mixture becomes thicker and gets a pale color. Little by little, pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Pour it back into the saucepan and cook on very low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, making 8 figures, for about 10 minutes. The custard should get gradually thicker. Be very careful not to bring it to a boil. Once the custard is thick enough, pour it into a serving bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and put into the fridge for a couple of hours, until it gets cool enough.
In the meantime, beat the egg whites with an electric beater. Once they start getting a little firm, add the sugar and continue beating until they reach a very firm texture. In a large saucepan, bring one liter of water to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the water simmer. With 2 large spoons, take some of the beaten egg whites and give it the shape of an oval ball (the size should be slightly smaller than an orange), then poach delicately in the simmering water, for about 30 seconds, then turn and poach the other side for another 30 seconds. Cover a large plate with paper towel and let the poached egg white dry and cool down. Repeat with the rest of the egg whites.
For the topping, put some sliced almonds on some aluminum foil and stick it into the oven, with the broiler on, for a couple of minutes. Watch carefully so that they do not suddenly burn! Remove from the oven and let them cool down. Prepare a caramel: in a small saucepan, put the sugar and a tbsp of water, cook on medium heat and wait until the sugar melts and gets a nice brown color. No need to mix the caramel during the process.
To serve the floating islands, delicately place the poached egg whites onto the custard, cover with the caramel and the roasted almonds. You can prepare this dessert in advance and keep it in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
