Pistachio Floating Island With Black Currant Sauce – Jacques Pépin (The Complete Today's Gourmet, p. 383)

Disclaimer: The Scotsman comes up with the titles for these posts, not I.

After dinner, Monsieur Pépin was deemed the man of the hour, and the Midden and I decided to try out one of his desserts as well.


The Midden did most of the work for this one, whipping the egg whites until they were frothy and mixing in the sugar, strawberries, and pistachios. I blended black currant jam with more strawberries and a little bit of Creme de Cassis for the sauce while she placed the mold in its bathtub and in the oven.


Half an hour later, the island came out poofing up and brown like a loaf of bread. It deflated pretty quickly. After it cooled, we flipped it onto a plate. The underside looked like Christmas Wonder Bread, bright white dotted with red and green. Like fruitcake. Or like mold. Whichever you find tastier.


We spooned the sauce onto the plates, added the islands, drizzled more sauce on top, and added strawberries and pistachios for garnish.

"So it's nuts floatin' in egg?" the Scotsman said.

This didn't bode well.



However, we were all pleasantly surprised with this. If you're in the mood for a decadent dessert, this isn't it; Jacques claims only 280 calories per serving, and no fat. But if you've just feasted on a meal of butter and bread, this might top it off nicely.