Well, I did make meringues. However, as you can clearly see from my picture I departed from the recipe and traditional Iles Flottantes in general. Personally, I needed to make a lighter dessert for myself so I wanted to stay away from the creme anglaise.
I knew I wanted to do something fruity with a little chocolate for some richness. I did some internet searching and came across a post about Flottante recipe done. In the recipe he bakes the meringues like cupcakes, hollows them out and stuffs them with chocolate mousse, and tops them with a chocolate tuile. His are also served in the creme anglaise. Yum!
raspberry puree (fresh or frozen raspberries, lemon juice, and sugar – cook, puree, strain, serve)
chocolate tuile
baked meringue cup
mini scoop of Haagen Daaz light chocolate sorbet
a bit more raspberry puree
Isn’t it just adorable? This was better than I thought it was going to be. We all liked it. It was nice and light, which is what I was aiming for. The vanilla meringue was delicious, it was soft and sticky like a homemade marshmallow. The chocolate tuile and light chocolate sorbet added a lovely hint of indulgence which went beautifully with the brightness of the pureed raspberries.
Here are some process photos:
Egg whites and sugar over a double boiler:
Egg whites, sugar, and vanilla extract after whipping for about 8 minutes.
Meringues in a water bath on their way to the oven:
Raspberries cooking over medium heat with some sugar and lemon juice. Once cooked down I puree them and then strain.