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Fluffy white meringue islands floating on golden vanilla custard in a shallow serving dish

Early Modern France · France

Œufs à la Neige (Snow Eggs)

From Le Cuisinier François · La Varenne · 1651

Verified from original source

Poached meringue islands floating on vanilla custard — a classic that La Varenne codified.

History

Œufs à la Neige, or Snow Eggs, emerged in 17th-century French haute cuisine, documented in La Varenne's groundbreaking Le Cuisinier François (1651). The dish features poached meringue islands floating on custard sauce (crème anglaise). It exemplified the French refinement of egg cookery and the nouvelle cuisine of that era, moving away from medieval heavy spicing toward showcasing ingredient purity. Popular in aristocratic households, it demonstrated culinary skill through delicate meringue work. The dessert remained a French classic, appearing in Escoffier's repertoire and continuing in modern bistros virtually unchanged in concept.

Sources

  • La Varenne, Le Cuisinier François (1651)
  • Escoffier, Auguste, Le Guide Culinaire (1903)
  • Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham, Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789 (1983)
  • David, Elizabeth, French Provincial Cooking (1960)
  • Mennell, Stephen, All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present (1985)

Serves

4

Prep

25m

Cook

15m

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

  • · 4 large eggs, separated
  • · 600ml whole milk
  • · 150g caster sugar
  • · 1 vanilla pod, split
  • · Pinch of salt

Method

  1. 1

    Warm milk with vanilla pod and half the sugar. Do not boil.

  2. 2

    Whip egg whites with a pinch of salt to firm peaks. Fold in 40g sugar.

  3. 3

    Drop dessertspoons of meringue into the warm milk. Poach 90 seconds each side, then lift out.

  4. 4

    For custard: whisk yolks with remaining sugar. Slowly pour warm milk over yolks, whisking.

  5. 5

    Return to low heat and stir until it coats a spoon (~5 min).

  6. 6

    Chill custard 2 hours. Float meringues on top to serve.

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