Milk from a cow and the delicious 'Ile Flottante'

Our Normandy farm stay, May 1987 with the family Leroy.

Some of our touring was hard work in France, challenging with 2 very young children but this trip was a delight.

We were made so welcome at the farm stay, living and eating with the family. They were generous and certainly confirmed our belief about the 'gourmand' nature of the Normandie people.

I see from my letter that the littleys were in a room with one of the daughters, how quaint.

I remember Shawni watching the cow been milked, her amazement at been given this warm full cream milk in a bowl, with sugar added and a spoon for breakfast.

The sunday lunch has been a lifetime memory for me because of the total surprise and the deliciousness of the desert. The captivating 'floating island' desert, a soft meringue floating in a lake of creme anglais, a heavenly thin custard.

I never tried to replicate this desert, it has always intimidated me but I ordered it regularly during our few years in France. Maybe it's time to try making it after all these years.



Ile Flottante:
Ingredients

1.5 cups of milk

split vanilla pod

3 eggs, separated

115g caster sugar

Make the 'islands':

Method
Beat the egg whites in a clean dry bowl, with a little pinch of salt, until the eggs have firm peaks.
Continue beating the eggs, while slowly adding the remaining 40gm of sugar.
The eggs can now be put into boiling water to cook or, quicker and cleaner, cooked in a microwave on low power for 45 seconds. An alternative is to poach spoonfuls of the egg white mix in the hot milk for 2 minutes, before adding the egg yolks to make the custard. (Note: the egg-white can be cooked as a normal meringue if preferred - in a very low cooker for an hour or so - popular, but not really very traditional...)

Make the custard:

Method
Heat the milk over a low-medium heat, with the vanilla pod. Heat until slightly bubbling, then remove from the heat.
In a bowl, mix well the egg yolks and 75gm of the sugar, then pour on the hot milk and mix well. Pour the mixture into a clean saucepan, and heat over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. It should not boil during this time. After a fex minutes the custard will have thickened (about the consistency of double cream).
Pour into a jug and remove the vanilla pod.
The custard can now be put into bowls, and the islands placed on top. The ile flottante are now ready to eat straight away.