Baked Alaska is a fascinating dessert with an interesting history.
The dish is made of
ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of
sponge cake or
Christmas pudding and topped with
meringue. The entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot
oven for a brief time, long enough to firm the meringue. The meringue is an effective
insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from getting through to the ice cream.
The name "Baked Alaska" was coined at
Delmonico's Restaurant by their chef-de-cuisine
Charles Ranhofer in 1876 to honor the recently acquired American territory.
Baked Alaska
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
3 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 pints pistachio ice cream, slightly softened
1 1/2 pints cherry ice cream or berry sorbet, slightly softened
Swiss Meringue
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.
Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and the egg yolks in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whisk, on medium speed, until pale yellow and thick, about 15 minutes.
Add vanilla, and fold in melted chocolate just to combine.
In a medium bowl, combine egg whites and pinch of salt in bowl of electric mixer; whip, on medium speed, until frothy. Add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar; beat until stiff. Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
Carefully pour batter out into prepared cake pan. Bake until cake is set and top is dull, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on a wire rack.
Spray a 5-cup-capacity metal bowl with cooking spray; line with plastic. Pack base of bowl with pistachio ice cream; layer cherry ice cream over pistachio, then finish with another layer of pistachio ice cream (or layer ice creams and sorbets as you desire). Pack firmly, cover surface with plastic wrap, and place in freezer. Freeze until ice cream is very hard, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours in advance.
Place cake on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Remove ice cream from the freezer, and invert bowl over cake. Keep the ice cream covered with plastic wrap, and return ice-cream cake to the freezer.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Fill a pastry bag, fitted with an Ateco #5 star tip, with meringue; pipe onto ice cream in a decorative fashion, or spoon meringue over ice cream and swirl with a rubber spatula. If ice cream starts to soften, return cake to freezer for 15 minutes.
Place in oven, and bake until meringue just starts to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve immediately.
Thanks to Martha Steward for this recipe.
