Floating islands with vanilla creme anglaise and sugar cage

Halve the vanilla bean, split it down the centre with the knife tip and scrape out the seeds with the back of the knife; put seeds and pods in a saucepan with whole milk and heavy cream. Set on the stove, heat off.

Separate the egg by passing the yolk between the shells; no yolk may get into the white. Refrigerate the yolk.

Add a few grains of salt to the white and whisk until foamy, then add the sugar in small additions, whisking 20 to 30 seconds between each.

Whisk to stiff peaks that hold their shape but are still shiny and supple, not grainy and dry; stop there. Scrape down the bowl.

Shape the meringue between two spoons into quenelles or ovals: two large portions (half each) or four small, uniform so they cook evenly.

Heat the milk mixture on medium-high until it barely starts to simmer, then drop to the lowest setting, swirl, and add the meringues.

Cover and cook 12 minutes without lifting the lid, touching or flipping; an occasional swirl of the pan is fine. They puff up.

Turn off the heat, uncover and transfer the meringues to a rack or plate to cool; they contract and deflate, which gives the right texture. Return any stuck vanilla pod to the pan.

Add sugar to the milk. Mix a couple of spoons of the hot liquid into the reserved yolk to warm and thin it, then stir it into the pan.

Cook on medium-low, whisking, about three or four minutes until the sauce thickens; turn off the heat.

Strain into a bowl, pressing every drop through; the vanilla seeds pass the strainer. Refrigerate about 20 minutes to chill, or chill over an ice bath.

Optional sugar cage: melt white sugar in a dry pan over medium heat without water or stirring, swirling only, until the crystals disappear and it turns caramel-coloured; turn off the heat and stir.

Drizzle over the bottom of a generously oiled ladle in random drips; reheat the sugar if it gets too thick. Molten sugar burns skin severely.

Let cool five or ten seconds until hard enough to push off the ladle, then shape within three to five seconds while still flexible. Can be made ahead.

Ladle a generous amount of creme anglaise onto the plates, set the cooled islands on top (served hot to cold; room temperature or slightly chilled preferred), top with the sugar cages and fresh raspberries.