The delights of meringue lie in its delicate texture, its airy structure, and the way it snaps in the mouth then melts away on the tongue. But eaten alone sometimes it seems too austere — a nonfat sweet for dieters. But not in this recipe from the February issue of Martha Stewart Living. Here the charms of meringue are deepened by a gilding of caramel and a pool of crème anglaise.
Yes, chocolate is the traditional trapping of Valentine's Day, but we'd take caramel this year, please, if it came with this lovely airy cloud of meringue. This dessert takes its cue from floating islands, a classic French dessert.
We also really like the way this dessert is done. Meringue is often piped into little cookies or crisps, and while this is beautiful, it's also an extra step (a messy one). This recipe just has you pack the meringue into a bundt pan and bake in a water bath. It's simpler, and rather more dramatic to serve.
And then the caramel (and the custard sauce!) — did we mention the caramel?
• Get the recipe: Ile Flottante with Caramel at Martha Stewart
Related: Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Meringue from Food52
(Image: Martha Stewart)
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Anyone have any idea of what I should adjust the temperature/cooking time to if I used my mini bundt pan??
I want to try this but on a much, much smaller scale. It's totally my thing, but waaaay to big for just one person (aka me!).
This looks gorgeous - I've never seen meringue cooked in a bundt pan before. @bkk - we cooked floating islands like these in individual ramekins at work. Set your oven to 160C or 325F & cook for 20 minutes in the water bath (the time depends on your oven, you can always insert a skewer to see how they're going).
@christine m - the traditional way to make floating islands/ île flottante is to poach scoops of (raw) meringue in just-simmering water. that's how i've always done it and it works fine. so go ahead, just use one or two eggs and make your own personal floating island.... ;)
i'm curious to try this because it looks like a nice presentation for a crowd.