Floating Islands in Microwave

Ingredients

Yields: 2 desserts
  • 4 egg whites at room temperature
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup frozen raspberries, defrosted
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup vanilla ice cream, melted (or flavor of your choice)

Directions

Make a French meringue. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form when the beater is lifted out of the bowl. Once the egg whites reach the soft peak stage, continue whipping and progressively add ½ cup of sugar. Keep whipping until the meringue becomes shiny and stiffer – this is called the ‘hard peak’ stage, and it should take about 5 to 10 minutes. Microwave the French meringue: place a large spoonful of French meringue on a microwaveable tray and microwave on high for 3 seconds – the meringue will rise a little bit and then deflate. Microwave it again for a 2 to 3 more seconds, then remove it from the microwave. Repeat this process, cooking one spoonful of meringue at a time. Cooking each meringue should take only 4 to 5 seconds, depending on the power of the microwave.

Make a raspberry sauce: put the raspberries, ¼ cup of sugar, and the lemon juice in a blender, and then blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a find mesh strainer, discard seeds, and reserve the sauce. Plate two desserts: pour a ‘pool’ of the melted vanilla ice cream onto two dessert plates, then place the cooked meringues on top as the ‘islands’. Drizzle some raspberry sauce over the top and serve immediately.