Wow, floating islands, talk about childhood memories. Grandma used to make this for very special dinners. She too used to poach the meringues rather than bake them. I was just thinking about this dessert the other day, must be time to make it.
Sourdough bread, some grainy mustard. Good ham doesn't need any other adornments.
mostly crisp, with a little bit of pliant
I like both in my bacon, crisp and chewy, like when you cook bacon in a too small round pan and the end bits have a little bit of chew and the center of it is nice and crisp.
Dark chocolate, any time, any place.
Ribeye, medium rare, no sauce or anything to interrupt the pure flavor of quality beef.
The meringues were cool by the time we ate them, but for some reason I thought they were supposed to be very light and crisp throughout, like a meringue kiss cookie. Maybe I have just never eaten a proper meringue?
That is interesting about the poaching...I only looked at 2 recipes, Ina and Julia Child. Ina bakes them in individual dollops, Julia bakes the whole mess up in a casserole dish and then carves it into chunks. The Larousse Gastronomique recommends cooking the egg whites and sugar in a bain marie. I think I definitely would have liked the taste of the meringues better if they had been poached in sweet milk.
Has anyone made/had zuppa inglese? This is another custard treat I want to try.
Yep, when I had Ile Flottante in France, the meringues were very marshmallowy, with not even a "skin" like marshmallows, and certainly not crispy. I would describe them as the inside of the meringue on top of a pie...definitely no crust. I imagine they must have been poached, as previous posters said.
Having said that, humidity could certainly play a role...but if your guests are putting your dishwasher out of business, I'd say you're probably OK. =)
This is the first time I've heard of baking the meringue. Whenever I've made it I've poached the meringue in the sweetened milk prior to making the custard with it. And your recipe looks as though the meringues were hot? Cold. The meringue is soft and fluffy, not crisp at all.
Don't give up on floating island!
Do it again and again until you get it right.
It is definitely an ethereal dessert and worthy of all the best college try you've got.
Believe me, if those in your family licked there plate when it was presented imperfectly, you won't want to miss their reactions when you get it right!
I'll second the motion on the humidity. About 10 years ago I got on a "mission" to make divinity after having it on a vacation to North Carolina. After the 5th or 6th batch of FAIL, someone enlightened me to the humidity factor living in west central Florida. Yeah,it makes ALOT of difference.
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Mmmm, ham. On a french roll with dilled havarti, lettuce, and plenty of sharp mustard. Wrap it and eat out in nature somewhere.
Ham and honey mustard...preferably from Honeybaked Ham...Yummmmm
Ham, mayo, cheddar cheese and thinly sliced granny smith apple on any hearty bread is good. Or ham, swiss, grainy mustard on rye is another fave. No plastic orange singles or white wonder bread need apply.
I love an open faced ham sammy with some whole grain mustard and a fried egg.
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