baked alaska with toasted meringue topping and strawberry halves

Chef Allison Hain elevates the traditional cake and ice cream duo with her recipe for Baked Alaska. Use your favorite flavor of ice cream or her family’s personal favorite, strawberry, for a sweet treat that sure to be melt your taste buds but not your ice cream! (Fun fact: meringue works as an insulator that doesn’t allow the ice cream to melt.)

Ingredients

  • 1 pint strawberry ice cream (or substitute any flavor you like)
  • 1 pound cake, sliced into 1 inch thick pieces, then cut into 3 inch rounds
  • 12 egg whites, room temperature
  • 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar

Directions

1. Line three egg cups (deep cups with domed bottoms, about 3 inches in diameter) with plastic wrap, with about 2 inches over the sides. Press ice cream into cups evenly, wrap plastic wrap over sides and ensure ice cream is well packed, with an even and smooth top. Freeze for 1 hour.

2. Place three, 1 inch thick and 3 inches in diameter pound cake pieces on small plate, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour.

3. Remove ice cream and pound cake from freezer. Invert ice cream and remove from molds, gently pressing down into pound cake rounds. Transfer to plate, cover well with plastic wrap. Freeze once more for 1 hour.

4. In medium metal bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high for 3 minutes or until foamy. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. When inverted, meringue should not move.

5. Preheat oven to 500°.

6. Remove plastic wrap, and place cake/ice cream molds on foil lined baking sheet, spacing apart as much as possible. Cover with meringue, using piping bag ideally. Meringue should be roughly 3/4 inches thick. Ensure there are no gaps or weak spots. The meringue is the cast to prevent leaking, so it is very important that the ice cream and cake are sufficiently encased. Discard extra meringue.

7. Bake for 4-6 minutes, until meringue is nicely browned. In this step, imagine you are toasting a marshmallow.

8. Serve the Baked Alaska immediately.