Dessert
Île flottante (floating island)
- Preparation time
- 1 h
- Servings
- serves 4
Ingredients
- Milk — to buy75 cl
- Vanilla pod — to buy1 gousse
- Egg — to buy5
- Sugar — to buy120 g
Preparation
Heat the milk with the split and scraped vanilla pod, without letting it boil; let it infuse for 5 minutes.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks (the whisk should leave clean tracks), adding a tablespoon of sugar near the end to firm them up.
Poach large spoonfuls of the whipped whites in the simmering (not boiling) milk, 2 minutes on each side, then drain gently on paper towel.
Whisk the yolks with the remaining sugar until pale, pour the hot milk (strained of the pod) over while whisking, then return everything to the pan and thicken over very low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard coats the spoon (don't let it boil or it will split).
Let the custard cool, then chill for at least 1 hour.
Pour the cold custard into bowls, gently place the poached whites on top and serve chilled.