Floating Islands - Tuesdays with Dorie

I didn't really know what to expect from this week's TWD recipe, chosen by Shari of Whisk: a Food Blog, except that it was going to be interesting! Shari is always so creative with her baking, and this recipe, at least according to the photo in the book, looks as beautiful and fragile as any fancy dessert. As it turns out, it was a bit (JUST a bit) more hardy than it looks, but still very beautiful!

As you can see above, I attempted to make hearts for Valentine's Day (which is also my birthday!) That is the only one that came out looking like a heart. In other words, I stopped being patient enough to use the cookie cutter ;) I also forgot to dye the meringue pink with my powdered food coloring... sigh!

[recipe]



Since A. is a Simpsons fanatic, of course he kept quoting the "I'd like a single plum, floating in perfume, served in a man's hat" line. I expected no less;) He was very impressed with both the taste and looks of this dessert (as was I!)



The journey towards this dessert began by making some crème anglaise. I'd never made it before, but it seemed fairly easy, since I'd made pastry cream successfully. Basically, some boiled milk is whisked into egg yolks and sugar (after tempering), and that cooks on the stove top with constant stirring until thick.

It began well...



Eggs and sugar whisked together...



The boiled milk is poured in a little at a time until tempered, and then the rest is slowly poured in while whisking to create this mixture:



And then it is heated until... wha???



People, this is NOT what you want to end up with. Dorie's recipe said to take the mixture to 180°, but I never got there, so I just kept going until disaster struck. I didn't want to waste it, though, so I did some online searching and found this recipe, which says you can blend in a food processor if it curdles. So, I just mixed it with my stick blender and called it a day ;)



I'm sure the texture wasn't superb, but it still tasted amazing!



The next day, I whipped up the lovely meringue. I used Dorie's trick of microwaving the egg whites (left over from the crème anglaise) in short bursts until they were room temperature. Meanwhile, the poaching milk was on the stovetop getting to a simmer.

I had to do something Valentine-y, so I decided to experiment with a heart cookie cutter. It actually worked better than I expected it to! The meringue keeps its shape pretty well, especially if you don't leave it in the poaching liquid too long so it totally expands.





Here are the puffy meringues as they cooled, and some of my kitchen aftermath!





When the meringues had chilled in the fridge long enough, I made the caramel to drizzle on top. You have to be quick, because the cooling caramel became hard as a rock in a matter of minutes!

Here is the converted recipe and [hidden] nutrition info. I'm excluding the caramel, because I barely used any of it, and whatever, it's a garnish! ;) I calculated in 1/4 cup of milk to represent the poaching liquid — not sure exactly how much ended up in the finished product.

Ingredients:
Crème anglaise:
2 cups whole milk (475 ml)
6 large egg yolks (100 g)
100 g sugar (1/2 c)
1 1/2 t vanilla extract

Meringue Islands:
2 cups milk (475 ml)
4 large egg whites (135 g or 3/4 cup), at room temperature
pinch of salt
50 g sugar (1/4 c)

Caramel (optional):
100g sugar (1/2 c)
1/3 c water (80 ml)

[click for the rest of the recipe]

Nutrition Facts from NutritionData.com:
per serving, 1/6th of recipe
[click to show or hide]

Calories: 219
Fat: 8 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 219 mg
Sodium: 98 mg
Carbohydrates: 31 g
Dietary Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 8 g

At least there is more protein than usual... ;) Darn egg yolks!



Thanks to Shari for picking this delicious recipe, which I'm sure I would have been way too scared to try by myself! Go check out the recipe on her blog, and then the rest of the TWD blogroll!