Floating Islands
Posted by Laura Wallace on November 15, 1997 at 20:50:59:
In response to floating Islands, written by P. Bingham on November 15, 1997 at 18:08:40
Does anyone know what a floating island is or what its ingredients are? It's a dessert, a cold dessert of a round flat-baked meringue floating on a sea of custard. That brings to mind a nice picture but I've not seen any receipts for it, I'd like to know what it looks like in terms of presentation. What color is it, for example. Is it large or small? Is it like a pie, where several people can dig in? Or is it like a personal pan pizza?
I have two receipts for it, one from the 1964 Joy of Cooking, and the other from a reproduction of the Hershey's 1934 Cookbook. (Obviously, the latter involves chocolate custard.)
The Joy of Cooking receipt does not include picture, but it says you can prepare the custard (a separate recipe) in individual custard cups (6-8 ounces) or in a baker. The custard is baked and the floating islands (beaten egg whies with sugar) are poached in milk separately, then placed on top of the cooked custard, and chilled together.
The photo in the Hershey book shows a bowl filled with chocolate custard with seven floating islands on it. An island is approximately the size of an egg. In this recipe the meringue (beaten egg whites with sugar and cream of tartar) is baked on top of the custard, then chilled.
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