12 Days of Christmas Recipes: Île Flottante, Crème Anglais, Panettone French Toast

It’s Day 5 of our 12 Days of Christmas Recipes, and it’s also Friday, so we’re ending the work week on a sweet note thanks to Albert Ponzo, Executive Chef at Le Sélect Bistro on Wellington Street in Toronto.

You’ll remember Albert from the spring when we featured his stunningly delicious grilled mackerel recipe – another gem that can be done, in part, ahead of time, but make you look like you’ve been slaving in the kitchen all day.

Île Flottantes is the French term for “Floating Island,” and refers to an elegant desert of meringue placed, or floating, on crème anglais. It’s so delicate you’ll be stunned to see just how easy it comes together. To get more culinary inspiration, follow Albert on Twitter @albertponzo

Île Flottantes

Yield: 8 portions

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup egg white (roughly 7 eggs)
• 1 L whole milk

Method

1. Mix egg whites and sugar in a stainless steel mixing bowl. Warm mixture in bain marie (water bath) constantly stirring and checking temperature. Continue to stir until temperature reaches 140F.
2. Using a stand mixer begin whipping whites and sugar mixture until it forms hard peaks.
3. Heat milk on medium heat and maintain temperature below simmer. Quenelle (form the meringue into a smooth football shaped oval using two spoons) the meringue and poach in milk . The flottantes will float on the milk. Flip them over after they slightly stiffen (about a minute) to cook the other side and drain on paper towel. Refrigerate.

Crème Anglais

Ingredients

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 L 35% cream
• 6 yolks
• 100 grams sugar

Method

1. Whisk yolks and sugar together in stainless steel bowl until sugar is dissolved and mixture is pale yellow.
2. Bring cream, vanilla bean and pod to scalding temperature in a pot over medium high heat.
3. In three portions, pour hot cream into bowl with yolks and sugar, tempering eggs first with a small amount of liquid to make sure the eggs don’t curdle. Add remaining three additions the same way.
4. Return mixture to clean pot and cook over medium heat, constantly stirring with a spatula. Continue to cook until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. It should take roughly 20 minutes and the temperature should reach no higher than 185F or else the eggs will curdle.
5. When cooled, remove from heat and strain to remove the vanilla pod. Allow to cool and refrigerate.

Cracked Caramel

Ingredients

• 300 grams of sugar
• 4 Tbsp water

Method

1. Always use a stainless steel pot or non-reactive pot when making caramel so your sugar doesn’t crystallize 
2. Bring water to boil on high heat, reduce heat to medium and add sugar.
3. Stir sugar in water until it dissolves. At this point you do not want to move the sugar. Brush the inside of the pot with water whenever sugar sticks to the pot. This prevents the formation of sugar crystals which is your worst enemy when making caramel.
4. Continue to cook sugar until temperature reaches 325 F or caramel becomes golden brown.
5. Pour the caramel on a tray which is lined with parchment paper. Allow to rest and cool.
6. When completely cool crack the caramel with your hands or a mallet. Reserve caramel in a closed container and keep frozen until needed. (It will keep up to 3 weeks).

 Putting It Together

1.  Spoon 2 ounces of crème anglaise into a bowl.
2. Gently place île flottante on top using an offset spatula.
3. Sprinkle a small handful of cracked caramel on top.

Albert’s Notes

Be creative with your garnish!

In the photo we used some roasted walnuts and a slice of store bought Panettone dipped in French toast batter. We then seared it golden brown in butter.

Batter: 400ml milk; 100ml cream; 4 eggs; grated orange skin to taste – can be made the day before. 

The Wine Sisters’ Pairing:

The meringues are very light and delicately sweet, paired with crunchy caramel and rich crème anglais. Same rules apply here as Day 2: when pairing sweet dishes with wine, choose a sweeter wine. We’re opting for Icewine here, but since meringues are such a classic pairing with sweeter sparklers like Moscato d’Asti, we think a sparkling Icewine will fit the bill nicely, and is festive, too.

Try: Inniskillin Sparkling Vidal Icewine, VQA Niagara Peninsula, 2011 $79.95 Vintages 560367