Looking for a make ahead dessert that will wow your guests? Look no further than these baked Alaska treats. Believe it or not, but they can be frozen with the meringue before torching.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Baked Alaska ♥
When it was announced that we would be going into hard lock down for three weeks everything seemed manageable. We knew they limitations for that time and they were easy to adhere to. One of them was that no alcohol would be sold. As I do our whisky shopping once a month, this was not a problem. Each month I purchase a couple of bottles of single malt. And the end of March was no different. But the three weeks turned into 9 and our collection was running low. So much so that we had to resort to drinking bourbon. I am quite a fan of Jack Daniels and I had a bottle stashed away from years ago. This was taken out of the cupboard and opened before we moved to Level 3.
Today’s inspirational recipe from Lavender and Lime ♥ Baked Alaska ♥ #LavenderAndLime Share on X
I was not desperate to buy whisky on the 1st of June. But I decided that if there were no queues at our local bottle store I would pop in. And luckily for me it was empty – not only of people but bottles. There were 5 bottles of whisky on the shelf, one being a single malt we enjoy. And so I bought that for us to enjoy with our pre dinner snacks. I decided to support an independently owned store as the big chains have companies behind them. And by supporting local it keeps people in business. Which is so important for the economic recovery of our country. Could you buy alcohol during your hard lock down?
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Baked Alaska
Ingredients
For the condensed milk
- 500 mls milk
- 200 g fructose
- 1.25 mls bicarbonate of soda
For the ice cream
- 200 g raw hazelnuts, lightly toasted, divided
- 500 mls whipping cream
- 10 mls vanilla extract
- 45 g cocoa powder
For the custard sponge
- 4 eggs, separated
- 135 g fructose
- 135 g vanilla custard powder
- 5 mls cream of tartar
- 2.5 mls bicarbonate of soda
For the Italian Meringue
- 75 g fructose
- 25 mls water
- 1 egg white
For the Baked Alaska
- 30 mls Brandy (optional)
Method
For the condensed milk
- Place the milk and fructose into a sauce pan
- Bring to the boil and immediately reduce the temperature
- Leave on a low temperature setting to reduce, stirring occasionally
- It should take about an hour to thicken
- As soon as it thickens, take off the heat
- Stir in the bicarbonate of soda
For the ice cream
- Weigh out 395g condensed milk into a stand mixing bowl
- Pour in the cream, vanilla and cocoa and whisk until soft peaks form
- Place 100g of the hazelnuts into a blender
- Blitz until a paste forms (make it as smooth as possible)
- Add to the ice cream base and whisk to combine
- Roughly chop the balance of the nuts and add ¾ to the ice cream
- Fold gently to combine then pour the ice cream into a freezer proof container
- Scatter the balance of the nuts on top and cover with a lid
- Place into the freezer for at least 4 hours to set
- Remove from the freezer and allow to soften before assembling your baked Alaska
For the custard sponge
- Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius
- Place the egg whites into a stand mixer bowl and whisk until soft peaks form
- Add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking for 2 minutes between each addition
- Add the fructose 15mls at a time, whisking between each addition until the fructose dissolves
- Sift the custard powder, cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl
- Stir to combine and then carefully pour on top of the egg mixture
- Fold gently until completely combined and pour into a lined Swiss roll tin
- Spread out evenly and place into the oven to bake for 15 minutes
- Remove from the oven and turn out of the tin immediately
- Remove the baking paper and place onto a wire rack to cool
For the Baked Alaska
- Once the sponge is cooled and the ice cream softened, start assembling your baked Alaska
- Cut circles out of the sponge, using your indivdual moulds as a template
- Fill each mould with ice cream, leaving enough space at the top for the sponge
- Sit the sponge on top of the ice cream and return to the freezer
For the Italian Meringue
- Place the fructose and water into a saucepan
- Heat on a medium temperature until soft ball stage (116° Celsius)
- Place the egg white into a stand mixer and whisk until stiff
- Add the syrup slowly, whisking continuously
- Continue whisking until the meringue is cold
For the Baked Alaska
- Demould the individual baked Alaskas and place onto a tray, sponge side down
- Sponge or spoon the meringue over the baked Alaska *
- Using a blow torch, lightly torch the meringue
- If you are using the Brandy, heat it slightly then pour over the meringue and flambé straight away
Notes
Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime July 3:
To a life well lived in 2020!
That looks scrumptious.. At first just supermarkets, then seedlings for veggie gardens, then everything but alcohol and ciggies were never banned.. 😉
Ciggies are still banned here and even though I don’t smoke, I think it is wrong!
This recipe looks delicious, Tandy. I will not comment on the state of this nation subsequent to the lockdown debacle other than to say that a lot of companies are also in a right mess and many may fail over the next six months.
I think that it is going to be awful world wide!
You have won my heart with the meringe Tandy! Amazing.
Thank you Laura!
We were able to buy alcohol, but it was not as easy as before. In fact, I think I read that alcohol sales were up since the lockdown began…
Not surprising!
Tandy this recipe is a wonderful idea. I could just use tinned condensed milk for the ice cream though, couldn’t I? Using fructose cuts down on the amount of sugar in a recipe like this for sure. I don’t think purchase of alcohol was banned here, but the queues and the wait made it not worthwhile. Luckily we buy our wine on line. Thanks for sharing this recipe, I must give it a try. Great concept.
For sure you could. Much easier that way 🙂
I don’t think they could even try and stop Aussies from buying alcohol during lockdown. It was considered an essential business here! 😀
I think all business should be declared essential!