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How to make France’s famed Île Flottante dessert

Île flottante, literally 'floating island', is a foaming meringue floating in crème anglaise (custard) sprinkled with caramel and pralines. It has a reputation for being a tricky recipe to master, so here's how you can do it at home.

Published: 26 August 2016 10:22 CEST

How to make France's famed Île Flottante dessert

Photo: Paul Oatway

These step by step instructions, from France-based food blogger Laura Tobin, are easy to follow and should help you impress your friends with this tasty dessert.

Ingredients

For the Crème Anglaise (custard):
• 500 ml of milk
• 5 egg yolks (use 2 whites for the meringues; the remaining 3 can be stored in the freezer)
• 1 vanilla pod
• 65 grams sugar

For the Meringue:
• 2 egg whites (at room temperature)
• 115 grams of icing sugar
• Pinch of salt

For the caramel and topping:
• Sprinkle of praline
• 100 grams sugar
• 100 ml water

You will also need a small amount of butter or light vegetable oil for coating.

Method

1. To begin, start making the crème anglaise. Cut the vanilla pod in half and with a knife scrape out all the seeds. Warm up the milk and infuse the vanilla seeds and the pod in the milk for at least 30 minutes, then strain the milk to remove the vanilla pod and any other large pieces.

2. In a bowl whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture turns a lighter colour and starts bubbling.

3. The crème anglaise has to cook at low heat, otherwise it curdles. The best way to achieve this is to cook it au bain-marie: not on direct heat but inside a pan full of water. You can use any small pan inside a larger pan, but make sure the small pan does not touch the bottom of the large pan otherwise the heat will be too strong. Be patient, pour the warm milk into the egg mix, keep the water simmering and stir the custard with a wooden spoon until it thickens. This can take up to 15 minutes.

Make sure the water in the pan does not boil vigorously, but just simmers away. If the heat is too high and the custard curdles, remove the pan from the heat and either strain the custard or mix it with a blender.

4. Once the custard has thickened, let it cool down completely, which you can do by immersing the pan into cold water. You can also cook the custard the day before and let it cool in the fridge overnight.

Meringue:

Making the meringues is not difficult as long as you follow these key rules strictly:

The egg whites should be at room temperature
There should be no trace of egg yolk
Bowl and whisk should be completely clean
Add a pinch of salt to the egg white

5. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites at high speed until they become stiff.

6. Add half of the icing sugar and continue to whisk.

7. Once the mixture becomes firm combine the remaining icing sugar.

8. Butter four small but deep ceramic (or microwave resistant) cups and pour the egg white mix in equal amounts. Make sure there is enough room left at the top of the cups as the meringue will rise while cooking.

9. Cook the meringues in the microwave at medium power (800 watts) for 2 min 30 sec.

Caramel:

For the caramel you need to follow these key rules strictly:
Never stir, touch or move the pan while the syrup is cooking otherwise it will crystallize, transforming back into sugar
Use a small but heavy and even pan. The heat should distribute evenly as you cannot stir the syrup
Keep the heat to medium, as a vigorous boiling can also crystallize the syrup
Be patient and be vigilant, caramel can burn in seconds

10. In a pan pour the sugar and the water and bring to boil at medium heat. With a thermometer keep measuring the temperature of the syrup, the caramel will be ready when it reaches 125 C. Don’t get distracted as the caramel, once it is formed, can burn within seconds.

11. Once the temperature is reached, immediately remove the caramel from the heat. Move the pan gently and not too far. Remember, too much shaking can re-crystallize the caramel.

12. Let it rest for a few seconds until the bubbling stops, but not too long otherwise it will solidify.

13. Oil four small bowls with a light vegetable oil or butter and whirl the caramel on the bowl with a spoon making swirls shapes. The caramel will solidify very quickly.

14. Time to assemble the desserts! In a soup bowl pour ¼ of the crème anglaise. Position one of the meringues over the crème anglaise in the centre of the plate to make the island.

15. Sprinkle with the praline and top the meringues with one of the caramel curls. You can also sprinkle the caramel directly onto the Île Flottante, like in the cover picture of the article. Serve and enjoy!

If you want to save or print the recipe you can find it here on Your Guardian Chef.

All photos: Paul Oatway

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Essential guide for travelling with allergies in Sweden

EU allergy laws

“Sweden is covered by EU laws on the 14 most common dangerous food allergens,” Liselott Florén, head of communications at Sweden’s Asthma and Allergy Association, told The Local. “When you eat out in restaurants, cafés, hotels, or similar places, they are legally obliged to be able to explain what the food contains.”

When buying prepackaged food, you’ll usually see any ingredients containing one of these allergens highlighted in bold or capital letters. Here’s a list of the 14 most common food allergens with their Swedish translations.

Cereals containing gluten – spannmål, som innehåller gluten
Crustaceans – kräftdjur
Eggs – ägg
Fish – fisk
Peanuts – jordnötter
Soy beans – sojabönor
Milk – mjölk
Nuts/tree nuts – nötter
Celery – selleri
Mustard – senap
Sesame – sesam/sesamfrön
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites – svaveldioxid och sulfit
Lupin – lupin
Molluscs – blötdjur

Depending on your allergy, it can be a good idea to learn the Swedish words for common food items that may contain your allergen, like ost, grädde or vasslepulver (cheese, cream or whey powder) for milk allergies, although these will often be followed by the name of the allergen in question, too. For example, you might see whey powder listed on an ingredients list as vasslepulver (av MJÖLK) [whey powder (from MILK)].

Common cereals you should look out for on Swedish ingredient lists are vete (wheat), råg (rye), havre (oats) and korn (barley), and tree nuts include hasselnöt (hazelnut), valnöt (walnut), cashewnöt (cashew nut), pekannöt (pecan nut), paranöt (brazil nut), pistage (pistachio) and makadamianöt (macadamia nut).

Be aware that this is not an exhaustive list, so double check any ingredient highlighted in bold on an ingredient list before eating to make sure it’s not something you’re allergic to.

Note that many Swedish words are compounds, so these words might crop up as part of other words too, for example matvete (wheat berries, often served as an alternative to rice) or havredryck/mjölk (oat drink/milk). These are usually highlighted in ingredient lists with the allergen in bold, for example matvete or havredryck.

Some more important phrases are kan innehålla (may contain), kan innehålla spår av (may contain traces of) and fri från (free from). People with egg or milk allergies should also be aware of the Swedish words used to mark vegan food – vegansk or växtbaserad (plant based). Don’t confuse this with vego, which can also mean vegetarian.

Be aware of common Swedish foods which may contain allergens. Some foods described as a salad (sallad) often contain mayonnaise, and eggs, fish and shellfish are all popular ingredients. Those with fish or crustacean allergies should watch out for prawns (räkor), crayfish (kräftor) and herring (sill), especially around Swedish holidays.

Sauces and gravys often contain cream, butter or milk, so make sure to check these, and there are a number of traditional Swedish cakes which contain almond (mandel) such as the mazarin and mandelmussla.

Always have a dialogue with staff in restaurants

Knowing the EU allergens can be useful for reading menus and ingredient lists in the supermarket, but Florén from the Asthma and Allergy Association warns people with allergies not to rely on written information alone when ordering in restaurants.

“In our experience, Swedes are better when it comes to oral information than written information,” she said. This is partly due to the fact that menus often change with the seasons, and may not always have the most up-to-date information.

“Swedish restaurants have come a long way when it comes to sustainability, creating new dishes based on the available ingredients. That’s why it’s always better to have a dialogue with the serving staff, or even better, the kitchen staff.”

In most restaurants, you’ll see the words ‘Allergi? Prata med personalen!’ (Allergy? Talk to staff!) displayed somewhere, and staff should be happy to help you.

Decide whether to make or buy an allergy card

Swedes are famously good at English, but for people with allergies it’s important that you’re completely confident that the person you’re talking to has understood what you’re trying to tell them.

It can be a good idea to write up some sort of message or card with information of your allergies included in Swedish which you can show to staff (you can also buy one of these online with information in multiple languages), but Florén said you should be wary of relying too much on this, and always discuss your allergies with staff directly.

“You can do that, but it’s really important that you don’t end up thinking ‘I’ve shown a card, I assume you can understand this information’, without some sort of dialogue,” she said.

It can also be a good idea to let the restaurant know about your allergies in advance, if possible, whether that’s by phone or online.

If you do choose to create a card or written message to show to staff, here are some useful phrases in Swedish which you can include:

Jag har en allvarlig/livshotande matallergi. – I have a serious/life-threatening food allergy.

Jag är allergisk mot… – I am allergic to…

Det är inte en [gluten/laktos]intolerans. – It is not a [gluten/lactose] intolerance.

You may also want to list some common foods that often include your allergen. For someone with a milk allergy, for example, you could write the following:

Det betyder att jag inte kan äta mjölk eller mjölkprodukter, som smör, grädde, gräddfil eller ost, till exempel.

(That means that I cannot eat milk or dairy products, like butter, cream, sour cream or cheese, for example.)

If you have an allergy to tree nuts, you may want to explain which nuts are included.

Jag är allergisk mot nötter, det vill säga hasselnöt, valnöt, cashewnöt, pekannöt, paranöt, pistage och makadamianöt.

(I am allergic to nuts, that means hazelnut, walnut, cashew nut, pecan nut, Brazil nut, pistachio and macadamia nut.)

You may also want to explain what you can eat. Things like pine nuts (pinjenötter), peanuts (jordnötter) and coconuts (kokos) are not tree nuts, for example, and those with milk allergies may need to explain that they can eat things like eggs (ägg) or mayonnaise (majonnäs), or traces of (spår av) certain foods.

Jag tål… – I can eat…

What to do if you have a reaction

You always have the right to acute healthcare in Sweden, no matter where you come from. This includes treatment for serious allergic reactions. The emergency number in Sweden is 112.

Depending on where you come from, the price of this healthcare varies.

Residents of Nordic and EU/EEA countries pay the same as someone living in Sweden if they need acute healthcare in other countries.

A Swede visiting the emergency room would pay around 400 kronor (35 euros), depending on the region, and around 130 kronor (12 euros) per day spent in hospital. You’d also need to pay extra for any medicine used in treatment, although this usually heavily discounted, and cannot exceed 2,850 kronor (250 euros) in a twelve month period.

Nordic residents will need to show ID and give their home address, while EU residents must show their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). It’s a good idea to always carry this with you while you’re in Sweden.

As a general rule, non-EU residents will need to pay the full price of any treatment themselves (which is why it’s a good idea to get travel insurance before your trip). The cost of a visit to the emergency room for this group is anywhere from around 3,800 to 6,000 kronor (330-520 euros). That doesn’t include any extra costs, such as medicine or an overnight hospital stay.

There are some exceptions for residents of certain countries, for example residents of Australia, Algeria, Israel, Turkey and the state of Québec in Canada can access certain healthcare at the same cost as Swedish residents.

UK residents can no longer get an EHIC card, unless they have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, but they can show a GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card) instead to access healthcare at the same costs as Swedish residents.

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