Floating Island (Oeufs a la Neige)

After struggling with Martha Stewarts version of this recipe I found this recipe equal to her version in flavor and presentation, without the hassle of her version. My family loved it even our 8 year old grandson gave it a thumbs up!

this is a recipe my husband said his grandmother use to make him....when i make the meringue i very gently spoon in large dollups on top of steeping milk, poach gently for 3-5 minutes, turning once to cook meringue, remove with slotted spoon and drain. I would not eat the raw egg version. Chill and traditionally drizzle with caramel. It is super easy and super impressive.

I LOVE this recipe but also would not eat the raw egg version. I learned it with some different proportions and directions, including cooking the dollops of egg white for a few seconds in boiling water, turning once, and removing with a slotted spoon (similar to go away's directions). It's very easy and gives the islands slightly more structure (without making them crispy). My recipe also does not add any sugar to the egg whites, and even though I am a sugar fiend I still love it! Just make sure there's a little custard in every bite. :)

I've been looking for this recipe for years. It was a family tradition at Christmas. We called them "snowballs". Nice and light dessert.

I made this for a friend who had fond childhood memories of this dessert. She was very pleased and I have already made it again because I enjoyed it as well.

We have edited this recipe to include a step to cook the meringue. You may omit this step and use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs, if you prefer; pasteurized eggs take longer to whip into a meringue, but will work just fine in this recipe.

This is very similar to a recipe my grandmother used to make in the 60's which was from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook called Susan's Snow Pudding. Very good and easy.

so good and worth the effort. HUNGARIAN FLOATING ISLANDS – MADÁRTEJ This is what my dad remembered as when he was young. I used a torch to brown the meringue.

I have been using powdered egg whites for my baked Alaska and floating islands.

Pure heaven! Flavour and texture of the milk was just like in the traditional bakeries/cafés in Hungary! (Thick and creamy). The merengue didn't turn out firm enough (likely because my son was helping and the proportions were off). The merengue was a bit on the sweet side so I'd use a bit less sugar in it next time, but still amazing! Like all of the the traditional, old fashioned Hungarian deserts, it was a bit time consuming (had to wait for the milk to heat in the double broiler...a labour of love), but well worth the effort!