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Dessert

Floating Island

A dessert of custard, whipped cream, sponge cake, and fruit or tapioca.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Floating Island

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Floating Island

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Make soft custard of one quart of milk, yolks of three eggs, one tablespoon corn starch, sweeten to taste and flavor with vanilla.

  2. Beat whites to a stiff froth, scald them over hot water, and set all away until cold.

Make the gelatine base

  1. Soak one half box gelatine in a pint of milk for ten minutes.

  2. Put on the stove and stir until well dissolved.

  3. When cool, beat well: add one cup fine sugar, one teaspoonful of vanilla.

  4. Next add one pint of cream and the beaten whites of five or seven eggs.

Prepare the lemonade and tapioca

  1. Wash and soak a tea cup of tapioca.

  2. Peel two lemons, making them into a quart of rich lemonade, cutting the lemon in thin strips.

  3. Put into a double boiler, stir until nearly dissolved.

Assemble and serve

  1. Use sponge cake or one dozen lady fingers; one pint of cream, whites of two eggs, three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Have the cream cold, put in the whites and, with an egg beater beat to a froth, then sweeten and flavor.

  2. Ornament the top with bits of jelly or small pieces of the whipped egg.

  3. Serve with sponge cake.

  4. When entirely cold, serve with cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

806Calories
28 gProtein
20 gFat
125 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard and whites whip into a light, airy topping.
Gelatine
Sets the beaten mixture so it holds its shape when cold.
Cream
Adds richness and, whipped, gives a light, fluffy texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the dish and softens the set texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and gelatine mixture.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to a stiff froth. Whites must be beaten until stiff and then kept gently cooled so the foam holds its volume. Under-beaten or deflated whites make the floating island flat and watery.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, corn, cream, sugar, egg, vanilla):

  1. Coconutfits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, corn, cream, sugar, egg, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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