I had planned to make these for Valentines as Lenny loves them! In fact, whenever I ask about his favorite desserts this is the only one he mentions. Shari of Whisk: a food blog beat me to it as she picked this fablous recipe for our weekly Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) challenge.
The recipe starts with making a Creme Anglaise, which is a light pouring custard. It is made with milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla flavoring. I decided to skip the vanilla extract and add a split vanilla bean to the milk while it simmered. I love the dark speckles floating in the finished creme not to mention the very intense flavor of fresh vanilla.
While the custard was chilling I made the floating islands. Dorie’s recipe was basically egg whites with a little sugar. I normally add a bit of cream of tartar which helps them hold up a bit more. Since this recipe did not call for it, I did not add it. Instead I made my meringues extra big, which was a good idea, as when I removed them from the simmering milk they deflated quite a bit. Tip, save the slightly sweet milk and use in your coffee.
The recipe called for the option a drizzling of caramel, we went for it. I did decide to cook it a little longer then the recipe stated as we love burnt caramel. With the smell of vanilla, frothy milk and burnt sugar lingering in the house, we could not hold out and ate the dish slightly warm. Even though it is better when served a bit colder, we were not complaining as we licked the spoons and bowls clean. This is an easy recipe that tastes fantastic! Sultry creamy custard and comfortable caramel teasing your taste-buds. We may be eating this again on Valentines!
Be sure to check out all the other TWD Floating Islands as well!
18 comments