Floating islands, îles flottantes, with poached rhubarb recipe

A classic French dish, îles flottantes makes separate use of the yolk and white of an egg to produce a rather bizarre but nevertheless delicious dessert. Garnish it with any fruit you fancy – because of the warm winter weather I still had some summer rhubarb.

Timings

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves

4

Ingredients

For the rhubarb

• 60g caster sugar
• 50ml grenadine
• 1 tsp cornflour, mixed with a little water
• 1 stick of rhubarb, cut into rough 1cm dice

For the floating islands

• 150ml double cream
• 200ml milk
• grated zest of 2 large unwaxed lemons
• 6 eggs, separated
• 100g caster sugar

Method

1. To prepare the rhubarb, put 120ml of water in a pan with the sugar and grenadine, bring to the boil then stir in the diluted cornflour.
2. Simmer for a minute then stir in the rhubarb. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid. The rhubarb will soften while you make the rest of the dish.
3. Put the cream, milk and lemon zest into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
4. Meanwhile mix the egg yolks with 70g of the sugar in a large bowl.
5. As soon as the cream comes to a boil, remove from the heat and whisk it into the yolks and sugar, mixing well.
6. Return the mixture to a clean pan set over a low heat for the sauce to thicken. Stir every so often, ensuring you scrape the bottom and sides of the pan.
7. When the sauce coats the back of a spoon (this should take 3-4 minutes), remove from the heat, give it a good whisk again and transfer to a bowl.
8. While the egg yolks are heating, whisk the egg whites with the rest of the sugar in a bowl that’s extremely clean with no signs of grease. Use an electric food mixer with the whisk attachment or an electric hand whisk to do this. Whisk for about 3-4 minutes, until the whites are really stiff and shiny.
9. Bring a large pan of water to a simmer and, with a large serving spoon, lower in four spoon shapes of egg white as neatly as you can. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, then transfer to a large plate, preferably lined with kitchen paper to soak up moisture.
10. Cook the egg whites in batches if your pan isn’t big enough.
11. Divide the sauce between four shallow pasta bowls and float a cooked meringue in the middle of each one. Spoon the rhubarb and a little of its cooking liquid around and over the islands to serve.