Baked Alaska
United States
About Baked Alaska
Baked Alaska is a showpiece dessert that seems to break the rules: ice cream that goes into a hot oven and comes out still frozen. A dome of firm ice cream sits on a layer of sponge cake, and the whole thing is covered in thick meringue before being browned in a very hot oven or with a blowtorch.
The trick is that the meringue's air bubbles act as insulation, so heat browns the outside before it can reach the ice cream. The sponge base protects it from below.
The name is often credited to Delmonico's restaurant in New York in 1876, said to honor the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867. Some restaurants pour warm liqueur over it and set it alight at the table, a version sometimes called a bombe Alaska.
Ingredients
- ice cream
- sponge cake
- egg whites
- sugar
- cream of tartar
- vanilla