A classic nostalgic dessert, our baked Alaska recipe features a brownie base, three types of ice cream, and a torched homemade meringue.
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00:00 Hey y'all, it's Brooke and I'm in the Delish Kitchen studios.
00:03 And I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I'm quaking in my boots a little bit today
00:07 because I have to make a dessert that sounds so intimidating.
00:10 It's baked Alaska.
00:12 It's got layers of pistachio ice cream, strawberry ice cream, and vanilla ice cream
00:17 all on top of some sort of cakey base.
00:19 The most fun part of this recipe though is that we get to use a torch to light the whole thing on fire
00:24 to get that nice, lovely, swirly brown meringue on the outside.
00:28 First, we're gonna spray this bowl with a little bit of non-stick cooking spray
00:31 and then we're going to layer a sheet of plastic wrap on top
00:35 to make it easy to dislodge the whole ice cream dome later.
00:38 You want to make sure your bowl is big enough to leave a little bit of space
00:41 for when we're going to add that layer of brownie to the top.
00:44 Because when we flip it out, that brownie is going to be the bottom base.
00:48 Baked Alaska is all about that cross section when you slice into it
00:51 and the key to getting that is making sure your ice cream layers are flat
00:55 before you add another flavor.
00:57 We're gonna start with the pistachio ice cream.
00:59 Make sure you smooth it out nice and even with a rubber spatula.
01:02 Do the same with the strawberry layer and then finish with the vanilla layer
01:07 so that your top is nice and smooth like this.
01:10 Even though this isn't liquid and it's just softened,
01:12 we want to make sure we freeze the whole thing through completely
01:14 so that when we slice, we get a nice, clean slice.
01:17 Freezing it is also super important because when we put that meringue on top,
01:22 start torching it, we don't want the ice cream to melt.
01:24 I'm gonna go ahead and stick this in the freezer.
01:26 It needs at least four hours or overnight.
01:28 Please don't skimp, don't cheat yourself.
01:31 You will regret it, I promise.
01:32 Our ice cream is in the freezer and setting up,
01:35 so while that freezes, we're gonna work on the cake base for our baked Alaska.
01:40 I've got an eight-inch round cake pan.
01:42 You want to make sure that your cake pan fits into the top of the bowl
01:46 so that it's not too big to be the base of your ice cream dome.
01:50 I'm gonna put a little bit of baking spray on the bottom
01:53 to make sure the brownie can release easily.
01:55 We're gonna pour the brownie mix into the cake pan.
01:58 You're gonna bake these brownies for however long the box says to bake them for
02:02 for the size pan that you have.
02:03 So we've got our brownie layer all cooled and ready to go.
02:08 Our ice cream is frozen solid.
02:10 All we have to do now is just add this brownie to the ice cream.
02:14 We're gonna cover it back up a little bit,
02:15 and we're gonna freeze it for at least another hour
02:17 just so everything has a chance to meld together.
02:20 If you need to freeze it for a little bit longer
02:22 to get the rest of your party ready, you're more than welcome to do that.
02:25 But it needs at least an hour.
02:26 Now we're gonna do the most technically difficult part of a baked Alaska,
02:31 which is the meringue.
02:33 Keep it simple when you make meringue.
02:34 Don't try to do too much at once.
02:36 You're gonna start with the sugar syrup first.
02:39 Into the skillet over medium heat, we're gonna add some sugar and some water.
02:43 Don't stir it.
02:45 Just let it dissolve and turn into a sugar syrup.
02:48 Your sugar should not be turning that amber caramelly color that you would see
02:52 if you were gonna make caramel.
02:54 You still want it to be nice and clear.
02:56 It should not have any tint to it.
02:57 If you're looking for about 230 to really start whipping your egg whites,
03:01 use room temperature egg whites.
03:04 If you use cold egg whites, it won't get quite as fluffy.
03:06 Those room temperature egg whites will help incorporate everything a lot better.
03:10 We're gonna whip two egg whites with a little bit of cream of tartar
03:13 in our stand mixer until they get a little bit frothy.
03:16 When it gets to 240 degrees, we're gonna start streaming some of that sugar syrup
03:20 into the egg whites slowly while the stand mixer is still running.
03:25 What that's going to do is cook the eggs, so you won't be eating any raw eggs here, I promise.
03:31 And it's also gonna make the egg whites really nice and fluffy to make that
03:34 lovely pillowy, marshmallowy layer on the outside of our baked Alaska.
03:38 It's time for the most fun part of making baked Alaska,
03:41 and that's putting the meringue on and taking the torch to it.
03:46 This part has to move pretty quickly because the last thing you want is for your ice cream
03:50 to start melting. To get our brownie and ice cream layers out of the bowl that we have,
03:55 we're going to put our platter on top of the bowl, invert the whole thing,
04:00 and then use that layer of plastic wrap to help us dislodge the ice cream from the frozen bowl.
04:05 As soon as we get that onto the platter, we're gonna quickly get our meringue
04:10 and start working our way all around the ice cream and brownie dome
04:14 until we have a completely even layer covered on the outside.
04:17 Once we get our layer on, we're gonna start making cute little swoops with our spatula
04:22 so that the flame has something to catch, so that we have some contrast on the outside layer.
04:28 We want the meringue to look really textural and really beautiful.
04:31 That meringue layer should be on the thicker side. We want to make sure that there's enough
04:36 of a meringue layer between the ice cream and the heat from the torch so that the
04:40 ice cream doesn't just start melting. To get those lovely little swoops on top
04:44 of your baked Alaska that's going to give you all that texture and drama,
04:48 take the back of a spoon or an offset spatula, gently tap the meringue and pull it up,
04:53 and that'll give you a nice soft peak. The most fun part about making baked Alaska
04:57 is getting to torch that meringue on top, but it can be really easy to mess up.
05:01 So here's three ways to get it perfect. Number one, you want to make sure you keep your flame
05:06 a reasonable distance away from the meringue. Number two, keep it moving.
05:10 You don't want that flame concentrated in one spot because it's gonna melt your ice cream
05:14 and burn your meringue. Number three, make that extra trip to the hardware store instead
05:19 of the kitchen aisle in the grocery store. If you get a slightly bigger torch, the flame
05:24 will be bigger and it's much easier to control the consistency of the brownie on top of the meringue.
05:30 This is basically the birthday cake from all of my eight-year-old dreams.
05:33 So of course I'm excited to take a bite. This is my ideal dessert.
05:38 Everything's already built in. I've got three different flavors of ice cream,
05:41 so I don't have to pick just one. And there's a brownie base and there's marshmallow on top.
05:46 Like, what else could you possibly ask for? Also, it looks really elegant. I love how that slice has
05:51 the dramatic layering with the green and the pink and the white and the brown. And then especially
05:55 that fun swirly, swoopy meringue around the outside. It does not get any better than this,
06:00 guys. Usually folks will use like pound cake or something as the bottom layer for their baked
06:04 Alaska, but I love what the brownie brings to this. It's definitely a nice contrast from the
06:09 fruity and nutty ice cream to have something rich and chocolatey, but sturdy enough to hold up all
06:14 those ice cream layers. If you're looking for more low lift but beautiful desserts just like this one,
06:19 keep it right here at Delish.com.
06:21 (upbeat music)
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