Île flottante
A dessert of three elements, each with its own margin of error. Crème anglaise thickens at 82–84 °C, and a few degrees higher it turns into scrambled egg. The meringue poaches in milk that must not boil — bubbles tear the foam apart. And only seconds separate perfect caramel from burnt. The reward is out of all proportion: a surprisingly light dessert.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Crème anglaise 25 min
- Chilling 60 min
- Meringues 30 min
- Caramel 10 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneCook the crème anglaise to 82–84 °C
Bring the milk to a boil with the split vanilla. Beat the yolks with the sugar and temper them by pouring in the hot milk in a thin stream, whisking. Return it all to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 82–84 °C and coats the spoon. Do not let it boil. Without a thermometer: draw a finger across the spoon — the line must stay sharp.
Ingredients: 600 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 100 g sugar · 1 pcs vanilla
The finger line stays sharp — the custard is ready.Strain the custard and chill it
Strain the custard immediately into a cold bowl and refrigerate an hour. Straining rescues the dessert even if the custard has slightly split — the sieve catches the set lumps and the rest stays smooth.
Ingredients: 600 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 100 g sugar · 1 pcs vanilla
Whip the whites stiff with sugar
Whip the whites with a pinch of salt, adding the sugar a spoonful at a time, to a very stiff, glossy foam. A soft foam disintegrates in the milk. Test it: the bowl turned upside down must release nothing.
Ingredients: 6 pcs egg whites · 120 g sugar · 1 pinch salt · 500 ml milk
Poach the meringues below the boil
Heat the milk to a bare tremble, never a boil, and drop in mounds of foam shaped with two spoons. Poach in batches of 4–5, 2 minutes a side, turning with a slotted spoon; all the batches take about 20 minutes. Boiling milk would shred the foam.
Ingredients: 6 pcs egg whites · 120 g sugar · 1 pinch salt · 500 ml milk
The milk barely trembles — bubbles tear the meringue.Drain the meringues on a cloth
Lift the poached meringues onto a clean tea towel, not paper — paper sticks to damp foam. They will deflate slightly; that is normal and not a fault.
Ingredients: 6 pcs egg whites · 120 g sugar · 1 pinch salt · 500 ml milk
Make a pale caramel without stirring
Cook the sugar with the water without stirring until it reaches a pale amber — about 8–10 minutes. From then on watch it closely, as it darkens within seconds. Do not stir with a spoon: movement triggers crystallisation. Swirl the pan itself if you must.
Ingredients: 120 g sugar · 40 ml water · 40 g flaked almonds
Assemble just before serving
Pour the cold custard into shallow bowls, set the meringues on top, drizzle with threads of caramel and scatter with almonds. Assemble at the last moment: caramel dissolves in the meringue's moisture within a quarter of an hour and becomes a sticky pool.
Ingredients: 120 g sugar · 40 ml water · 40 g flaked almonds
Caramel in threads, just before serving.
Before you start
Oven-baked meringues
Instead of poaching, the meringues can be baked in a water bath: 20 minutes at 150°C in moulds. They come out firmer and more even, but lose the damp, cloud-like texture this dessert exists for.
When the custard splits
Pour it at once into a cold bowl and blitz with a stick blender for 30 seconds. In most cases it comes back smooth. As insurance: add a teaspoon of cornflour to the yolks — it greatly reduces the risk of splitting.
Custard a day ahead
Crème anglaise keeps two days in the fridge and is even better for it, as the vanilla flavour deepens. Poach the meringues the same day — overnight they lose their spring and settle. Caramel always at the last minute.
