Recipes From An Old Book.

 I said I loved this book, something I came to the wrong way round ~ which is not unusual for me.  I saw the movie  in B&W  first, when I was a child, & only later realised it was a book ~ later still before I discovered one could acquire all sorts of old books if one had a computer & internet access.  It was the very first thing I think I bought online.

My copy does not have this nifty dust jacket.  It has no dust jacket of any sort & the laminate I covered it with is now cracked & pealing.  The pages are so old they are soft & feathery, easily torn, & to be handled with care.  It is a book I re~read often, delighting in the characters & that here is a book wherein there is no ugliness, no great conflict, but deep faith & a great peace.  It is no wonder I return to it again & again.

It is also a *notional*  book, full of quirky phrases, plants, & foods I have never heard of ~ like Juneberry trees & Floating Island puddings.

Just the name, Floating Island Pudding, entranced me.  What sort of wonderful concoction was this?  Though a little wary since I discovered Angel Food Cake consisted primarily of Pineapple, a food I consider so disgusting as to be inedible!  Anyway, I looked it up ~ eventually ~ which always tends to be an interesting exercise. 

This is a French dessert consisting of meringue floating on Creme Anglaise, though in all my born days it would never have occurred to me to poach meringue!  I swear the French are really odd.

I used this recipe: Floating Island Dessert

 I'm not sure the meringue is meant to look like this ~ & I am equally sure there is a single *island* version, but as there are just the 2 of us I went with the 2 egg version & cheated on the custard.  I don't have a double boiler & the dehydrated stuff is just as good to my mind.  I also skipped the spun sugar topping opting for plain caramel sauce but when I do it again ~ & I will as it is nowhere as difficult to make as I thought it was going to be ~ I will add fresh berries.