Julia Childs Floating Islands Recipe Cafe Johnsonia

FLOATING ISLAND

Steps:

• In a large, wide saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla bean to a simmer.
• To make the meringues: In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff but not dry. Scoop up several large serving spoonfuls and poach on the simmering milk, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on serving plate. Repeat until all the egg whites have been used.
• To make the creme Anglaise: in another large mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar until light and ribbon-y. Add the warm milk to the egg yolk mixture and return to the saucepan. Cook, over low heat, stirring constantly without letting it come to a boil, until mixture thickness and coats back of spoon. Strain and flavor with rum and vanilla extract. Ladle creme Anglaise around poached meringues.
• To make the Caramel: in a small saucepan, cook the remaining 1 cup sugar until caramelized, stirring constantly. Stir in the almonds. Turn off heat, being careful not to burn the caramel. Carefully spoon caramel over the meringue.

FLOATING ISLAND

Steps:

• Heat oven to 130°, oven rack to bottom third of oven, this is going to rise. Butter and sugar - like your were using flour, but use sugar to coat the sides of the dishes instead-- one or two tall-sided oven dishes, I use 1 soufflé dish and one bread pan usually.
• Be sure your egg white beating bowls are completely grease free and dry. Separate your eggs carefully, one by one into a separate bowl is best, you must not have even the tiniest bit of yellow in your whites or the whole recipe won't work.
• Start beating the egg whites at a moderate speed until foamy, beat in the lemon juice and salt and gradually increase speed to fast, you really need an electric beater for this. When the egg white form soft peak, very gradually add the sugar in small amounts, then beat at high for a few minutes til you get stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla. Scoop the mixture into the prepared dish or dishes, you want them about filled, just use a second dish if you have too much. I sometimes use a prepared bread pan for the excess and slide it onto the same oven rack as the soufflé dish.
• Bake immediately in the preheated oven 35-40 minutes. It will rise and turn golden. A bit too much time is better than too little. Remove and cool at room temperature, it will sink a bit. When cool, cover and refrigerate. May be made up to a couple days in advance and even frozen.
• Cut into 6 wedges and serve on a pool of cool crème anglaise, which is actually a bit difficult to make at home. If you have any hesitation, buy it pre-made. If you are feeling adventurous, use your leftover egg yolks and any crème anglaise recipe from the web and follow the directions EXACTLY-- it must NEVER boil.

FLOATING ISLAND (OEUFS A LA NEIGE)

Steps:

• Separate two of the eggs. In top of double boiler, combine 1 whole egg and 2 yolks with 1/4 cup sugar and the salt, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the milk and cook over simmering water, stirring constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon. When the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove it from the heat. (Do not boil. If custard should start to curdle, remove from heat and beat vigorously until smooth.) Pour the custard through a strainer into a bowl and stir in the vanilla extract. Cool and refrigerate.
• In a heat-proof bowl, lightly whisk the 2 egg whites with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, just enough to dissolve the sugar. Place the bowl on top of a pot of simmering water and stir constantly until the temperature of the whites reaches 145 degrees F (63 C) or hotter. Immediately remove the bowl from the heat, and use an electric mixer to beat the warm egg whites until they form stiff, glossy peaks.
• Pour the chilled custard into a serving dish. Drop the meringue by heaping tablespoons onto the custard to make islands. Chill before serving.