Really light — just right to top off a heavy meal.
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3 egg whites
10 tablespoons sugar, divided
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup light cream
6 egg yolks
1-1/4 teaspoons vanilla
Add 1/8 teaspoon salt to the egg whites and beat until foamy. Add 6 tablespoons sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff. Drop heaping tablespoonsful of this into 1/2 inch of boiling water in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a moderate oven (325 degrees F) for 10 minutes. Remove carefully from the water with a spatula or slotted spoon and let stand on a cake rack until cold.
Scald the milk and cream in the top of a double boiler. Beat the egg yolks; add 1/8 teaspoon salt and 4 tablespoons sugar. Mix in a little of the hot milk and cream with the eggs and return to the double boiler. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Cool. Add the vanilla and chill.
Serve in shallow glass dessert dishes with the egg-white “islands” floating on top.