we called 'em s'mores in the seventies! for me, "devils on horseback" are appetizers made from pitted dates stuffed with a sharp cheese, wrapped in bacon and secured with a toothpick, then broiled on both sides until crispy. you can also use figs, either fresh or dried. yummy.
floating islands... now that's something else entirely! (floating ennis?) it's a dessert -- meringue "islands" floating on a sea of sweet custard, sprinkled with cinnamon. i've never made them, but the one time i enjoyed the velvetly mounds was memorable. a sweet guy took me on a romantic date, we shared an order at a candlelit dinner table in the somewhat staid community of walnut creek. we lovingly spoon-fed each other the slippery islands, which scooted around furtively on the plate, and giggled (oh, the wine)...
we got a lot of stares that we thought were glares, but as we finished up, the (gay) waiter said that because of our "display", the kitchen was angry -- just about every table wanted to know what we were eating, and as a result, the chef was up to his ears with orders for the floating islands, lol.
that said, i'd still rather have something else! here is my simplified recipe for...
STRAWBERRIES ROMANOV
fresh strawberries
pure, vanilla ice cream
freshly made whipped cream
some cointreau, an orange liqueur
some tall, fluted parfait glasses, chilled
ok, this is easy. wash and dry the strawberries -- make sure they are ripe and sweet. they should be very fragrant. slice them into quarters, or in half if they're small. place in a bowl and sprinkle with cointreau and a bit of sugar. (about one oz. liqueur and 1 tsp sugar to 2 cups sliced strawberries.) you can skip the sugar if the strawberries are sweet enough! you can do this ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge to marinate.
when ready, bring out the ice cream to let it soften a bit.
make whipped cream: whip the whipping cream -- add a bit of sugar, a dash of vanilla, and beat vigorously in a chilled bowl. once you have frothy peaks, divide the whipped cream into three portions.
in an iced bowl, fold two portions of the whipped cream with the softened ice cream in equal portions, or a little more ice cream if you wish, it doesn't matter. you can even skip this part and use only ice cream... but it's better mixed, because it's fluffier, and you can add more cointreau to this mixture, haha. whatever you do, work fast so the ice cream doesn't melt too much!
grab the parfait glasses, spoon some of the marinated strawberries in each glass. add some of the ice cream. more strawberries, then more ice cream, until you have filled the glass. you should end up with two or three layers... top the last layer of strawberries with a dollop of the reserved whipped cream, add a single small strawberry,,, a sprig of mint....
one word: yummydelicious!
--> if you don't have cointreau, you can subsitute grand marnier, curacao, or another orange flavored liqueur.
--> no alcohol? marinate the berries in freshly squeezed blood orange juice, adding a bit of grated orange rind.
