Well that was a weekend of a very unsuccessful culinary adventure. I was feeling confident about this weeks technical challenge, which may well have been my downfall…always cook with some fear of the unknown! I’d made these little floating beauties once before, as a lazy Sunday afternoon experiment, and they were perfect, light, quenelles of fluffyness on a bed of custard (or tucker’d as my dad calls it) topped with toasted almonds rather than the spun sugar, general consensus of that dish, yum!
So onward we go, with everything measured, no shell or yolk in the egg, and electric whisked primed for action. I was a little unsure about the size of pan to use for the poaching as the liquid seemed such a small quantity. In order to get some depth to the poaching liquor I decided to go for a stainless steel frying pan. This week, working out of my mother’s kitchen there was quite an array of pans to choose from.
With the liquor mixed, I left it on a low heat as instructed and started to whisk the egg whites until soft peaks had formed, and then started to add the sugar, gradually until stiff, glossy peaks had formed.
Now for the quenelle dance of the spoons. Doing this with potato, ice cream or sorbet, it all a lot easier and cleaner because they have a dense, firmer texture, when it comes egg whites your effectively trying to mould a cloud! You think you have it, with two sides looking good, then you turn the third and oops you’ve lost it. Anyway once I was finally pleased with the shape having turned it several times, losing half the contents of the spoon in the process, I plopped it gently into the now simmering milk mixture. Checking that it was sitting happily in the liquid, I then started on the next oval cloud of egg white.
When I eventually had 4 in the pan I gently covered it with the lid and stood over them willing them to be the success I knew they could be. When it came close to the turning stage I removed the lid and was greeted by bubbling liquid around the islands, so I instantly checked the heat was the lowest it could be, worrying that it was too high. It was clear that the islands have gotten a little big, so maybe next time, only put 2 or three in the pan at a time, do not over crowd them. Turning them over is a delicate process, as you don’t want to lose the shape, so gently does it with a spoon.
At this point I was started to get little nervous, especially as when you touched them they seemed to deflate slightly. Did this happen before? I asked myself, but I couldn’t remember as it had been over a year ago! I continued to turn the rest and waited till the time was up. Lifting them out of the pan and placing on a plate, there was yet more deflation…oh uh!
At this point all cockiness had gone, so the next batch waiting in the bowl would be closely monitored. Returning to the egg whites they too seemed to have deflated somewhat, becoming loser in the bowl, so I gave them another attack with the whisk. Quenelling began again, and I decided this time to poach them without the lid. This time watching like a hawk I became less impatient to turn them, leaving them for what was their allocated time, 4/5 minutes. During this time I turned to the deflated islands on the plate, most of which. I decided to try one, to check the texture etc. At first it seemed fine, but definitely not as fluffy as it should be, and then locking closer at what was on my spoon translucent layer towards the bottom of the spoon, which was slightly rubbery in texture and not what it should be. In taste it had distinctive taste of egg whites. Now I know that sounds odd but it was closer to the taste of eggs that have been poached or boiled, definitely not what you’re looking for in a meringue.
Continuing with the rest of the islands, the second batch were ready to come out, and carefully I lifted them from the sea of frothy milk placing them lightly on a plate. They deflated slightly but not as much and there was definitely one keeping its form, fingers crossed it would stay that way while I did the custard. I still had more egg whites in the bowl, but decided they were beyond saving, being over whipped into submission!
Taking the warm milk and pouring it through a sieve, you need to then pour it over the whisked eggs yolks, which you should have whisked while your making your islands like a hawk! Once you’ve whisked the egg and milk mixture together you then need to pour it into a saucepan and stir continuously until it thickens. It took a while to thicken, and I had to remind myself (after a good 10 minutes of continuous stirring) that it was meant to be a crème anglaise not a custard, meaning that it could be thinner. Once the custard/crème anglaise is made its then onto the sugar!
By this time I’m feeling hot, frayed, deflated like my islands and can’t really face another agonising wait for sugar to get to the right temperature before you can shake it off the back of a spoon into whisp of crunchiness. But this is a technical challenge and I have to persevere. Onward…
While waiting for the sugar to melt I oiled the plastic rolling-pin, ready to catch what should be the sugar strands. Whether it was the heat or the general feeling of doom, I kind of new that this wasn’t going to go well. Instead of strands I had blob and droplets and had coated the hob and surrounding areas with sticky sugar. Keep going, its nearly over, but by this point I had little or no love left in me for this challenge. I presented the best ones, sat down heavily on the sofa and demolished the whole thing, which didn’t feel that rewarding either. However they didn’t taste too bad, and the custard was good, if a little sweet for my liking (which is saying something )
In hindsight:
- Don’t over whip the eggs
- Have plenty of work surface
- Try poaching in just milk, and don’t make them so big
- Practice the sugar spinning
