This is a dessert that consists of a milk poached soft meringue that floats on crème anglaise. It is served cold or at room temperature. There is also a French variation ‘Île Flottante’ and a 19th century American cookbook mentions it as a 4th July dessert.
I first came across this dessert in my childhood. My grandmother used to make it, and I remember visiting her on one Sunday afternoon. She used to have a north facing ladder with thick walls and a small window. The kind you only see in old houses these days. She kept all her pickles, jams and preserves there. North facing meant the temperature was a lot cooler than the rest of the house during the summer month. That afternoon she pulled out a big bowl of custard with floating meringues on the top. It wobbled as she put down to the table. She created the wow factor, our eyes lit, and our parents smiled on our reactions. We were small children in the end of the day. This was a very appreciated rare treat because it is very time consuming to make. We gobbled it up in no time.
In Hungary this dessert called ‘Madártej’ that translates to ‘Birdmilk’ in English.
When I moved to England I found a recipe in a cookbook and made it to my friends for a dessert on a BBQ. But never really come across it in a restaurant. It must be fresh, made on the day, meringue before service so fitting the prep into the rest of the a’la carte service prep can be a quite a task if you need volumes. It did take some thinking to me as well on how I could serve it on my events. I was determent to put it on my summer menu.
So why is it so time consuming?
- The eggs need to be separated to yolk and white.
- Milk needs to be warmed up until almost boiling. If it’s boiling too much the meringues will break, and the milk will burn.
- The whites need to be whipped with the sugar to hard peak.
- The meringue needs to be shaped and gently poached in the hot milk. Then removed from the milk.
- The milk will be used to make the custard with the yolks. Seasoned with sugar and vanilla. This is fresh custard, so no powder is used.
- The timing has to be right because we want the custard to be thick, but we don’t want the eggs to crumble and set. It must be chilled very quickly after it’s done. For best results the custard has to be in the fridge for minimum two hours.
- The meringue is served on the top of the custard.
The base recipe contains very little ingredients: eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. They are used very cleverly.
In my version I cut the meringues, so they sit nicely on the custard and serve it with salted caramel sauce, peanut praline and freeze-dried raspberries. One of my guests said this was the best custard they have ever tasted.
It’s a great feeling serving the centrepiece of one of my childhood food memories to my guests.
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