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Baked Alaska

Author Damien Wilde
Posted On 29th August 2014

Baked AlaskaThere must be some cruel folk at the BBC.

On one of the hottest days of the summer, the people behind the cultural behemoth that is the Great British Bake Off decided to focus upon desserts and set the contestants the most monumental of tasks: to make and cook a Baked Alaska.

Alternatively known as a lace au four, the Baked Alaska consists of ice cream and sponge cake that’s topped with meringue before being cooked in a hot oven before being served.

The ice cream is supposed to remain cold too, just when you thought it all sounded remarkably easy.

Luckily however, meringue is a great insulator so it isn’t as tricky as it first sounds – but we still don’t envy anybody who has to prepare one in a baking hot tent!

Here’s our take on this tricky dessert.

Ingredients

  • Vanilla ice cream
  • 100 ml water
  • 400g sugar
  • 6 egg whites
  • 15cm plain sponge

Method

  • Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and heat until the mixture begins to boil. When it does, use a brush dipped in cold water to wash the crystals down. Continue heating for a moment until it is syrupy in consistency.
  • Beat the egg whites in a bowl until stiff and pyramids are formed when the whisk is removed from the mixture.
  • Slowly continue mixing the egg whites whilst adding in the syrup. Be careful not to allow the syrup to come into contact with either the whisk or the outside of the bowl.
  • Continue beating until glossy and stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed
  • Place the sponge disc on a large serving plate and spoon on the vanilla ice cream.
  • Spread the meringue over the ice cream, using a palette knife if necessary to seal in the ingredients.
  • Now, the hard part: Either use a blowtorch to colour the meringue or quickly put it into a preheated oven (200°C/Gas Mark 6) for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Did you know that Americans love to credit their former president Thomas Jefferson for serving up one of the first recorded Baked Alaskas? However this wasn’t a ‘true’ Baked Alaska as it was encased with pastry instead of meringue.

By Aaron Gustafson (Flickr) CC-BY-SA-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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