Floating island dessert (VIDEO)

5 from 6 votes

Floating island dessert (VIDEO)

Also known as île flottante in French, a floating island is a light, fluffy, and creamy classic French dessert that is in fact, no-bake and super easy. Made with milk, sugar, egg, and vanilla, the floating island dessert isn't just simple to make but also gluten free!

Prep Time30

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings:

Calories: 412kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

For the poached meringue

90 g Egg white approx. the white of 3 eggs
30 g Granulated sugar
750 g Whole Milk 3% fat

For the Creme Anglaise

500 g Milk 3% fat
80 g Granulated sugar
120 g Egg yolk approx. yolk of 6 eggs
2 teaspoon Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Poached egg white

Using an electric hand mixer, whip egg white with sugar until early stiff peaks. Add the sugar gradually and stop as soon as the meringue is shiny and close to stiff peaks.
Move meringue into a piping bag.
In a large saucepan heat milk on low-medium heat. When milk is simmering, pipe the meringue into a ladle so it becomes like a ball shape, then gently release the meringue into the warm milk.
Alternatively, use a large spoon and spoon the meringue balls into the warm milk.
Turn milk into low heat and cook the meringue "islands" for 2 minutes on both sides. The meringue should puff up so be mindful of how many you place into the milk at once.
Once the meringue is well poached, drain it and let it rest on paper towel, then refrigerate.

Custard

In a large enough bowl, with the help of a Hand whisk, whisk together sugar and egg yolk until slightly fluffy for about 1-2 minutes.
Drain the milk you used to poach the meringue and measure it again to 500g (add more milk if necessary).
Bring milk and vanilla to a simmer in a saucepan on medium heat then remove it as soon as it starts simmering. Make sure it is simmering but not boiling.
Pour the warm milk over the egg yolk mixture slowly while whisking vigorously with a Hand whisk. This stage is effectively tempering the egg yolks.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat until the temperature reached 82C / 180F.
Remove the cream from the stove as soon it reaches the desired temperature. Do not cook it further as the mixture will curdle.
Chill the custard before serving.

Serving

Once the custard chilled as well as the meringue is chilled, pour the custard into an individual bowl, then place one poached meringue on top.
Any leftover should be stored refrigerated for 2-3 days; the meringue and custard separately.

Video

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES:

Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy
High fat content milk and cream and pure vanilla are the heart of making Crème Anglaise
Fresh, farm eggs will provide bright yellow color cream, while cheaper supermarket eggs will result in a pale cream

TECHNIQUE NOTES:

Make sure you read my Expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone is not able to cover all the necessary details, and science behind baking.
Do not over whip the meringue before poaching as that is the most common reason for deflating later
Do not heat the custard mixture further than 82C / 180F as the egg will curdle
If you want a thicker sauce, increase the egg yolk in the recipe or use corn starch as my pastry cream recipe

Nutrition