This has been my very 1st Daring Bakers challenge! And I'm very late, probably too late posting...But...

I had quite a lot of fun, the only down point was that the guests I served the dessert to didn't care for meringue nor english custard!! It was a bit disapointing at first but then we ended up with a lot of delicious leftovers so we made do!!

Now as soon as I read this month's challenge I knew what I wanted to make:

Marquise Islands

Here in France marquises are most often served with "crème anglaise" a kind of light custard. We also have another famous dessert called Floating Islands which is composed of crème anglaise with floffy meringues floating on the custard and often there is a drizzle of carmel over it all.

I thought it would be pretty neat to make a miniture boat out of the meringue for the marquise! So that's what I did!

Crème Anglaise:

.50cl of milk

.4 egg yolks

.60g of sugar

.1 vanilla bean

Heat up the milk with the vanilla beansplit in half lengthwise. Mix the yolks with the sugar until they become floffy. When the milk is hot slowly pour it on the eggs. Stir constantly. Cook the custard until it sticks to the back of your spoon. Let it cool down until room temperature. If ever you get nasty eggy lumps just blend the custurd with a stick blender. Once cooled place in the refrigerator to chill.

Chocolate Marquise:

.2 egg yolks

.100g unsalted butter

.2 eggs whites

.100g sugar

.200g chocolate

.20cl of cream

.4tbs of baileys

.salt

.cocao powder

Prepare the dish in which you are going to set the marquise by lining it with parchment paper.

Make a cream mixing the egg yolks and the butter.Set aside.

Whip the cream until you've obtained a nice stiff whip cream.Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until you've got stiff peaks. Set aside.

Melt the chocolat with the sugar and the salt.

When the chocolate is melted pour it into the butter and yolk mixture. Mix well. Add the baileys.

Now gently fold in half of the egg whites and half of the whipped cream. When thoses are completly incorporated add the other halfs.

Pour the marquise mixture into the prepared pan and place in the freezer to set. Leave to rest for a couple hours.

Take out of the freezer, cut into squares. Cover each cube of marquise with cocoa powder by placing them one by one in a bag filled with powder. Shake the bag the put the covered cube aside, do the same for the rest. These marquises will keep quite well in the freezer. Take them out and put them in the refrigerator a half an hour before serving.

Meringues:

.4 egg whites

.4tbs-8tbs of powdered sugar

.a pinch of salt

The soft ones:

Beat the egg whites with the salt and 2tbs of the sugar. When they are really stiff add two more tbs of sugar. Put half of the meringue into a pipping bag. Pipe little "boats" on to a plate. Cook for 30s in the microwave. Set aside in a toperwear in the fridge. Before serving, blow torch them. Now if you don't have a blow torch, like me, you can stick a fork through the side and caramlize them over your gaz burner... This is not the best methode but it works.

The crunchy ones:

Preheat your oven to 160°C.

Take the other half of the egg whites and add 4 more tbs of sugar. Whip until you can no longer feel the texture of the sugar. Them place into the pipping bag. Pipe the meringue onto a tray covered with parchment paper. Cook for the 1st 15min at 160° then lower to 135° and cook for 1 hour and a half. Allow them to cool down completly and then place in a tin.

The baileys carmel crunch:

.sugar

.water

.backing soda

.Baileys

Marquise Islands

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