Floating Islands

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

I hope you all had a nice Christmas! I wasn't going to share anymore sweet treats this year because I figured we were probably all ready to detox from the sugar overload from the holiday season. But then I started thinking about the upcoming New Year's holiday and how we only have a few more days left before those weight loss resolutions start to kick in and figured why not? One of my favorite NYE traditions throughout the years was always filling the table with lots of snacks and bottles of sparkling grape juice, then playing board games as we counted down to the New Year. While we won't be doing any of that this year since the kids are grown and doing their own thing and Jason's out of town, I still thought a tasty dessert to pair with a glass of wine or sparkling juice would be nice to highlight for this week's Golden Blossom Honey share. I was saving this Floating Islands recipe for a special occasion (I originally thought it would make for a wonderful Valentine's or Mother's Day dessert) but ringing in the new year is just as worthy of a fancy-ish dessert, don't you think?

 

I am going to be straight with you and tell you that I struggled with this recipe. Out of the 10 years I've been bringing you these honey recipe shares, this was the one that had me wanting to throw in the towel. I'm not telling you this to discourage you from trying this recipe yourself, but if you're a novice in the kitchen, this is probably not one to tackle for a special occasion until you've mastered one or both elements of this recipe on their own. I have never made meringues and I can count on one hand how many times I've made custard in my life, but probably got a little cocky with my culinary skills and was quickly humbled. So, I'm going to share with you the mistakes that I made and how I was able to correct them and salvage this truly delicious dessert.

1- I over cooked the custard and the eggs started to curdle. This was remedied by removing the hot pan from the stove then using an immersion blender to get the custard back to a smooth and glossy consistency. 

2- The custard was soupy and did not set. I returned the pan back to the stove then added in an additional egg yolk and cornstarch (3 tablespoons diluted in 3 tablespoons of water), set the burner to medium low heat and whisked until firm (about 10 minutes). I transferred to a bowl then refrigerated until it set. 

3- The meringues dropped into simmering water method did not work for me. I found they puffed up a little, but once removed and drained on paper towels they deflated into flat sticky discs. I ended up scrapping that cooking method and decided the best course of action would be to bake them instead. To make them pretty and not little misshaped blobs, I filled a pastry bag and piped them into a classic meringue shape onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 200 degrees F, then turn off the heat and let them sit in the oven for an additional hour. *using parchment paper is important here, otherwise your meringues will stick to the pan and will break and crumble when you try to remove them.*

Once I did have all of the kinks worked out, I was highly impressed with this seemingly simple dessert. The creamy custard blended with the crisp meringue offered a lovely texture and flavor profile that would make for a wonderful addition to any upscale dinner party or New Year's gathering. I'm definitely going to try making this recipe again for Valentine's Day now that I feel more confident in my ability to execute both custard and meringue with the changes that I implemented. I'm thinking a pink coloring to the meringues would be a lovely touch served along with some strawberries or raspberries making it an even sweeter dessert for your loved ones. 

Ingredients

Custard:

2 cups whole milk

5 egg yolks

1/3 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 tablespoon orange zest

1/4 cup heavy cream

Meringues:

4 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tarter

1/3 cup sugar

ground cinnamon for sprinkling

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What are your New Year's Plans this year?