Floating Island Desert Recipe

I found this easy-to-make, glamorous, high-protein desert recipe in Mireille Guiliano’s book French Women Don’t Get Fat, and my boys loved it. It actually looks elegant, and difficult to make. If you’re having a dinner party — this will impress. But, to my boys, floating island’s stir their imagination by creating a miniature, far-off world, right in their bowls, where pirates can hide behind the large, fluffy islands.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cocoa or cinnamon powder for sprinkling

1. Scald the milk in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar and the vanilla. Cover and remove from heat.
2. Separate the eggs and reserve the egg yolks in a mixing bow.
3. In another bowl, beat the whites with the salt until foamy and then gradually beat iin the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
4. Return the saucepan with milk to the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low.
5. With a soup spoon, scoop out a mound of the egg whites and drop into the milk.
   Cook gently for 2 minutes and turn gently to cook the other side for 2 minutes. Remove and drain on a dry towel. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate on a plate until ready to serve.
6. In the bowl containing the egg yolks, gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms a ribbon. Gradually add the hot milk in a thin stream to slowly warm the yolks and avoid scrambling them. Chill the custard in a serving bowl.
7. When ready to serve, place the poached egg whites on top of the custard.
8. Sprinkle the egg whites with cocoa or cinnamon powder.
   

More, Tapioca Pudding, stove top method.
Tapioca Pudding, Slow-cooker method.