baked alaska

It would've been more proper to call this Baked Georgia this week because it was absolutely freezing for this last week. Regardless of what state this is named after, this has to be one of the easiest, most delicious and crowd pleasing desserts. It looks quite sophisticated but really, it's actually quite simple and it can be made hours/days in advance. A perfect way to end a dinner for two or party. This also gives you an excuse to go out and buy a blow torch for the kitchen. I mean...what kitchen would be complete without a blow torch right? :-)

You can really use any type of ice cream, the only type I happened to have around was caramel Häagen-Daz. You can briefly soak the sponge or syrup cake in a little bit of Grand Marnier or Bailey's but because I had neither and I can't buy either (legally), I made this one non-alcoholic. I'll stop talking now and give you the recipe for this Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska
Originally by Me

Ingredients: (servings will vary depending on ramekin used)
- egg whites from 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of water (100 mL)
- generous 3/4 cup of sugar (180g)
- drop of lemon juice
- sponge/syrup cake
- any type of ice cream

1) Separate the egg whites from the yolk (make crème brûlée with the yolks if you're on a sugar crave) and beat it with an electric mixer (hopefully) or by hand until at a soft peak stage. Add a drop of lemon juice into the mixture to keep the egg whites vibrant and white. Make sure NONE of the yolk gets in there and that the bowl is grease free or you will not get the egg whites to peak.

2) Meanwhile, add the water and sugar in a sauce pan (or any type of pan) and dissolve all the sugar. You'll know when you have the caramel syrup done by looking at the bubbles. Once you start to develop big, large, slowly bursting bubbles on the edges of the pan, it's ready to rock.
3) Slowly, drip the caramel syrup into the egg whites mixing as you go. This will cook the egg whites and add volume giving you a nice Italian meringue.

4) Once the meringue looks awesome like the picture up top, get out your sponge/syrup cake and cut it out with cookie cutters. I cut the bottom a little bit thicker compared to the top.
5) Here's a little trick with the ice cream. You can either make a mess by thawing the ice cream, putting it in another container, let it freeze again and cut it again with the cookie cutter. Or...work smart and wash less dishes.
Get a ramekin, I don't care what size. Line the inside of the ramekin with plastic wrap and scoop in slightly softened ice cream until it fills the ramekin. Cover the top of the ice cream with the hanging plastic and freeze. Once you're ready to use the ice cream, just rotate the ramekin w/ the palm of your hands and after a few rotations, it should pop out.
6) I hope you've had your coffee because haste is key. On your serving plate, place the bottom sponge/syrup cake in the center and place the ice cream on top of it. Top off the ice cream with the other sponge/syrup cake and start to go around the tower with the meringue.
7) Once completely covered with the meringue, go through it with a fork and make it look rough and rigid. Do it, it'll look cool, trust me.

**If preparing for in advance, stop right here and place the unbaked alaska UNCOVERED in the freezer until ready to serve**

8) Get your blow torch and go over the meringue until it's nicely browned. Serve immediately.

You can get fancy with the flambés at this point but there's no need to stress and set off fire alarms...or burn eyebrows. Going through the meringue with that fork gave the dessert a nice rugged look on the outside making it look like a mountain. It's for show but it looks cool so do it anyways!