Ile Flottante (Floating Island)
- 1/4 cup currants
- 1 spongecake loaf (see recipe), preferably made at least one day in advance
- 1/4 cup kirschwasser or maraschino liqueur
- 1/2 cup apricot preserves
- 1/4 cup toasted, coarsely chopped almonds
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup shelled pistachios, cleaned of their dark outer coating
- English custard (see recipe) OR
- Raspberry sauce (see recipe)
- Place the currants in a small bowl and add warm water to cover.
- Let stand 30 minutes or longer.
- Drain and pat dry.
- Place the spongecake loaf on a flat surface and, holding a sharp knife parallel to the surface, cut the cake lengthwise into four flat slices, each approximately the same thickness.
- Arrange the slices close together.
- Sprinkle or brush with the kirschwasser or maraschino liqueur.
- Heat the apricot preserves in a small saucepan, stirring.
- When slightly liquid, remove from the heat.
- Brush the spongecake slices with the preserves.
- Use half of the currants and sprinkle an equal portion of them over the layers.
- Sprinkle each layer with an equal amount of the almonds.
- Reshape the loaf by piling the layers one on top of the other.
- Whip the cream and when it is partly beaten, sprinkle in the sugar.
- Continue beating until it is stiff.
- Coat the reassembled loaf with the whipped cream, top and sides.
- Sprinkle the remaining currants and the pistachios over the loaf.
- Set the loaf in a rectangular serving dish, leaving a margin for the sauce.
- Pour an English custard or a raspberry sauce around the cake and serve sliced.
currants, kirschwasser, apricot preserves, almonds, heavy cream, sugar, pistachios, custard, raspberry sauce
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/10145 (may not work)