from delicious. magazine deliciousmagazine.co.uk
Makes 4.
Hands-on time 25 min, oven time 10 min, plus freezing
The secret to baked Alaska is to make sure everything is frozen solid before adding the meringue. It’s also important to heat the oven before you start whisking the meringue – any delay and the ice cream might start melting too quickly. And don’t leave any gaps in the meringue coating.
Top tips
• If you want to get ahead, prepare the ice cream sponge bases up to 2-3 days ahead and store in the freezer, wrapped, until ready to finish the dish (steps 3-4).
• We used bought madeira sponge cake, but any sponge cake or flan cake will do the trick. Please note: you might have some meringue mixture left over.
Ingredients
240ml chocolate ice cream 250g ready-made madeira cake
80g smooth peanut butter 20g caramel sauce 4 free-range egg whites Pinch cream of tartar 240g white caster sugar
Method
1 Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper (or use 2 smaller trays so they fit in the freezer). Scoop out 4 scoops of ice cream. Put on the lined tray(s), then freeze again until solid (about 1 hour).
2 Cut the cake into 4 even 2cm slices and trim the corners to make rough circles slightly larger than the ice cream scoops. Spread with the peanut butter and a dollop of the caramel sauce. Put a ball of ice cream on top of each piece of cake, then freeze until needed (see tips).
3 To serve, heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. When the oven is ready, put the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large clean bowl and whisk using an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar 1-2 tablespoons at a time, whisking back to stiff peaks between each addition.
4 Once all the sugar is incorporated and the meringue is shiny and glossy, take the ice cream-topped sponge bases out of the freezer and quickly cover with meringue to the bottom of the bases, leaving no gaps. Bake for 10 minutes until the meringue has a golden brown tinge and is set to the touch. Serve immediately.
