Île Flottante: Poached Meringue on Crème Anglaise
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats.
Cloud-soft poached meringues floating on chilled vanilla crème anglaise, drizzled with amber caramel.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Crème anglaise. infuse the milk with the vanilla seeds and pod until steaming, covered, 15 min. Whisk the yolks with the 60 g sugar, whisk in the hot milk, return to the pan and stir on low until it coats the spoon at 80-82 °C. Strain into the jug and chill. Gentle stirring to 80-82 °C cooks the yolks safely and keeps it smooth.
- 2
Meringue. whisk the whites with the salt and cream of tartar to foam, add the sugar gradually and whisk to firm, glossy peaks. Cream of tartar makes the meringue stable.
- 3
Poach. bring the poaching milk to a bare simmer, about 80 °C. Shape 6 large ovals of meringue with the two spoons and poach 2-3 at a time 2 min per side until set and springy. Drain on the paper. If the milk boils, the meringue puffs and then collapses.
- 4
Caramel. heat the sugar and water without stirring until deep amber, then take off the heat. Stirring can make the sugar crystallise.
- 5
Serve. pour the cold crème anglaise into the bowls, float a meringue on each and drizzle with the caramel straight away.
Storage
Best on the day. The crème anglaise keeps covered in the fridge for 2 days; keep poached meringues in the fridge for up to 4 hours.
Equipment
- 2 medium saucepans
- paring knife
- whisk
- wooden spoon
- fine sieve
- instant-read thermometer
- jug
- electric whisk and clean bowl
- 2 large serving spoons
- slotted spoon
- tray lined with kitchen paper
- small heavy saucepan
- 6 shallow bowls
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 279 kcal |
| Protein | 7.5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 48.4 g |
| of which sugars | 47.9 g |
| of which free sugars | 43.2 g |
| Fat | 6.6 g |
| of which saturates | 3 g |
| Fibre | 0.1 g |
| Salt | 0.27 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
2.7 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
