A floating island or ''île flottante'' () is a dessert consisting of soft

meringue Meringue ( , ) is a type of dessert or candy, of French cuisine, French origin, traditionally made from Whisk, whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acid, acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or potassium bitartrate, cream of t ...

floating on

crème anglaise ''Crème anglaise'' (; ), custard sauce, pouring custard, or simply custard is a light, sweetened pouring custard from French cuisine, used as a dessert cream or sauce. It is a mix of sugar, egg yolks, and hot milk usually flavoured with vanilla ...

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...

). The meringue used is baked in a

bain-marie A bain-marie ( , ), also known as a water bath or double boiler, a type of heated bath, is a piece of equipment used in science, Industry (manufacturing), industry, and cooking to heat materials gently or to keep materials warm over a period of ...

. It may be served at room temperature or chilled.

Terminology

''Œufs à la neige'' ("eggs in snow", ) is a similar dessert where the meringue is in egg-sized pieces and poached, rather than in one large baked piece.

History

The earliest known English-language reference to a floating island is in ''

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy ''The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy'' is a cookbook by Hannah Glasse (1708–1770), first published in 1747. It was a bestseller for a century after its first publication, dominating the English-speaking market and making Glasse one of t ...

'' (1747) by the English cookery writer

Hannah Glasse Hannah Glasse (; March 1708 – 1 September 1770) was an English cookery writer of the 18th century. Her first cookery book, ''The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy'', published in 1747, became the best-selling recipe book that century. It wa ...

. Her recipe, entitled The Flooting Island , is made with sweetened thick cream,

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

and lemon peel whipped into a froth, then layered with thin slices of bread alternating with jelly, piled high with the stiffened froth. Fruits and sweetmeats are arranged in a ring around the edge of the dish that is presented as a centerpiece for the table with candles all around it. A 1771 letter from the American founding father

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

reported eating a floating island at a dinner. An 1847 American cookbook lists floating island as a

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

celebration dessert. The historical form was quite different in England than in France, where it was known as ''Île Flottante''. Some scholars say that today's dish more closely resembles the 18th-century French ''Île Flottante'' than the elaborate cake and jelly constructions of English cuisine, while others say that the early French versions were not made with meringue, but layers of liquor soaked spongecake or

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and e ...

served in custard sauce (or berry puree).

Elizabeth Raffald Elizabeth Raffald (; 1733 – 19 April 1781) was an English author, innovator and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Raffald went into domestic service for fifteen years, ending as the housekeeper to the Warburton baron ...

's 18th-century recipe published in ''

The Experienced English Housekeeper ''The Experienced English Housekeeper'' is a cookery book by the English businesswoman Elizabeth Raffald (1733–1781). It was first published in 1769, and went through 13 authorised editions and at least 23 pirated ones. The book contains s ...

'' seeks to create a pastoral winter landscape:

"beat the white of an egg to a strong froth, and roll a sprig of myrtle in it to imitate snow ... let it stand till it is quite cold and stiff, then lay on rock candied-sweetmeats upon the top of your jelly, and sheep and swans to pick at the myrtle; stick green sprigs in two or three places on top of your jelly, amongst your shapes".

According to '' Larousse Gastronomique'' the dessert was served a little less by the time the encyclopedia was published in 1938, and its writers expressed regret because the dish is "excellent". The version recorded in the ''Larousse Gastronomique'' was made with stale

Savoy biscuit Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Valley in ...

s sliced thin and soaked in

kirsch ''Kirschwasser'' (, , ; German for 'cherry water'), or just ''Kirsch'' (; the term used in Switzerland and France, less so in Germany), is a clear, colourless brandy from Germany, Switzerland, and France, traditionally made from double distill ...

and

maraschino Maraschino ( , ) is a liqueur obtained from the distillation of Marasca cherries. The small, slightly sour fruit of the Marasca cherry tree ( ''Prunus cerasus'' var. ''marasca''), which grows wild along parts of the Dalmatian coast in Croatia, ...

, layered with apricot marmalade, and a garnish of chopped almonds and currants. The layers were assembled to form a type of cake that was frosted with

chantilly cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

, with either custard or berry puree poured over the whole thing.

Preparation

Floating island typically consists of a meringue served floating on a light custard sauce. Some variations invert this by using a thicker sauce served on top of the meringue instead. To make the meringue, the egg whites are beaten with sugar and poured into a mold that may be lined with caramelised sugar. It is then steamed in the oven in a bain-marie. Once the meringue is cooked and chilled, the sauce is poured on a serving plate, and the unmolded meringue placed on the sauce to "float".

References

External links

{{Commons category, Floating island (dessert) Custard desserts French desserts American desserts British desserts Meringue desserts

Terminology

History

Preparation

See also

References

External links