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Floating Island
Follow rule for Soft Custard; flavor with lemon juice, and garnish with a meringue made of the whites of four eggs, four tablespoons powdered sugar, and one teaspoon vanilla, beaten until stiff.
The meringue may be first poached in water in spoonfuls, then dropped on top of custard; or may be placed there without being poached, and teaspoons of currant jelly placed on top of each island.
The instructions assume you already have the book's Soft Custard in front of you; everything here hangs on cooking that custard gently and treating the meringue as a separate, cooked component.
- The soft custardA stirred custard of egg yolks, sugar and scalded milk, cooked over water until it coats a spoon — about 170–175F. Past 180F it begins to curdle, and once it does it is difficult to bring back.
- Add the lemon juice lastAcid poured into hot milk-and-egg will thin or break the custard. Strain the custard, let it cool, then stir in the juice.
- Powdered sugarIn American books of this period the term usually means very finely granulated sugar, not modern confectioners' sugar with its cornstarch. Superfine (caster) sugar dissolves into the whites best; confectioners' sugar works but gives a softer, slightly starchy meringue.
- Meringue ratioOne tablespoon of sugar per white is lean by current practice, where two is standard. It beats up quickly but weeps sooner, so make it close to serving and add the sugar a spoonful at a time once the whites are frothy.
- Poaching the islandsHold the water at a bare shiver, around 180F, never a rolling boil, which shreds the meringue. Two to three minutes a side, then lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on a towel before floating them.
- The unpoached versionThe second option leaves the whites raw. If you take it, use pasteurized whites or serve the poached version to anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immune-compromised.
- Assembly and yieldCustard in a shallow glass bowl or individual cups, islands set on top at the last moment, currant jelly dotted on each. Four whites give roughly six to eight islands — enough for six servings. Chill the custard, but do not refrigerate assembled islands for long or they collapse into the cream.
Floating island is the English name for what French kitchens call œufs à la neige or île flottante — poached meringue set adrift on thin custard. English cookbooks carried a dish under the name from the eighteenth century onward, though the early versions were often islands of whipped cream or jelly rather than beaten whites, and the meringue form is the one that survived into American use. The currant jelly finish is a period touch — jelly was a standing pantry item in the American kitchen.