Practical baked Alaska | ice cream, cake and Italian meringue

***RECIPE***

For the cake:

1/2 cup (60g) cake flour (all-purpose would be ok instead)
1 1/4 cups (150g) powdered sugar (could use 3/4 cup granulated sugar instead)
1/2 cup (50g) cocoa powder (or replace with more flour if you don't want chocolate)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue
1/2 cup (140g) Greek yogurt (could use sour cream instead)
1/3 cup (85 mL) milk (coffee would be good instead, water would be fine)
1/2 cup (120 mL) any neutrally-flavored cooking oil

For the ice cream:

Two pints (946 mL) any ice cream you like (I used strawberry)

For the meringue:

4 egg whites (reserved from the yolks for the cake)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (a little squeeze of lemon or dash of vinegar would be fine instead)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch (or any refined starch)
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) water
a squeeze of corn syrup (if you have it — honey would work too)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
tiny pinch of salt

Get a 9-inch (23 cm) square cake pan — you could use something a little bigger but not smaller. Cut a square of parchment paper big enough to cover the pan and reach up beyond the sides. Cut diagonal slits into all four corners so that the parchment will sit reasonably secure inside the pan.

Get your oven heating to 350ºF/180ºC.

Combine all the ingredients for the cake, whisk/beat until smooth and keep mixing for a couple minutes to whip some air into the batter. Pour it into the cake pan and bake until a skewer or knife comes out of the center clean — mine took 25 minutes but the time will depend on a lot of factors.

Cool the cake on the counter for a bit and then transfer it to the freezer to harden for at least 30 min. About 10 min before you want to do everything else, take your ice cream out and put it on the counter to soften. When it's squishy — soft but not melted — take the cake out of the freezer and drop the ice cream evenly over the surface in dollops. Use the back of a big spoon or a spatula to smooth out the ice cream to an even layer and return the pan to the freezer to harden while you make the meringue.

Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a small sauce pan and turn the heat on high. While it comes to a boil, put the egg whites, cream of tartar and corn starch in a large, heat-proof mixing bowl and whip them until you get firm peaks. When the boiling syrup reaches 240ºF/115ºC, carefully drizzle it into the egg whites as you continue to whip. Once all the syrup is in, keep whipping until the meringue cools down to where it's warm (but not hot) to the touch. Mix in the vanilla and the salt.

While the meringue is still warm and pliable, take the pan out of the freezer, dump on the meringue and smooth it out to an even layer. Return the pan to the freezer and let it harden for at least a couple hours — overnight is fine.

When you're ready to eat it, use the parchment to lift the whole thing out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Peel the paper off the sides. You could brown the top now, or cut it into 6-9 individual pieces before you brown them (wipe the knife in-between cuts to ensure clean edges).

You have at least four options for browning the top:

1) Put the whole thing under a very hot broiler (grill). You might melt the ice cream a little, but if you throw it in straight from the freezer, it'd be fine. This would work best if you browned the whole thing at once, rather than browning individual pieces.

2) Use a cheap fire stick to singe the top. This take a little while and will only do a really good job on the meringue peaks.

3) Use a kitchen torch. This is quick, effective and looks nice.

4) Plate the individual slices, douse them in a very high-proof spirit (I used 190 proof Everclear) and use a fire stick or warm match to ignite the booze. Do this at the table, so people can enjoy the show and blow out the fire before it burns/melts the dessert too much. Be careful, obvs. And turn the lights out so the flames are more visible.

[PastorJack]

I once, as the kitchen manager of a military club, made Baked Alaska for 250 people. We made it in the walk in freezer. We marched them out in line (17, in all) and lit them all up from both ends working towards the middle. The room erupted in applause! Well worth the effort to impress an entire company of soldiers and their leaders.

[loganosmolinski]

I appreciate that Adam is making whole egg recipes recently.

[nicolle]

just as a safety PSA: if ann reardon taught me one thing its that if you're planning on lighting alcohol, make sure you either a) pour all that you need onto the cake before lighting it or b) transfer a small amount into a bowl or measuring cup for pouring first. Any open wide-mouthed container will work. The reason for this is that an open flame can follow the alcohol up towards its source, like a cartoon spark following a dynamite trail. If it follows the alcohol up towards the bottle, there's a chance of it exploding in your hands and shattering the glass everywhere.

Stay safe and enjoy cooking everyone!

[kiru]

Didn't know Adam's gumbo was gonna be THIS different

[jeronimomurruni]

Finally a meal with more than two servings, now the kids can eat.

[calebbabcock]

Seeing a grown man jump on his bed is something else

[WAD]

Every time I'm surprised by how smooth is the transition to the sponsor I appreciate the effort and the videos.

[rayanrahal]

“Looks as soft and cushy as-“ immediately set off my fight or flight

[Steeeeeeb]

"Ready to see what's for dessert?" *brings out a fireball of cake, ice cream, and liquor*

[nerdcave]

Thaw the ice cream evenly by putting it in the fridge for an hour instead of on your countertop. Awesome tip from Cook's Illustrated.

[WelfareChrist]

I am so totally making this! My favorite part of this channel is how approachable these recipes are! More than any other cooking channel this channel has put out videos that actually result in me trying out new recipes, usually with pretty admirable results, and for that Mr. Ragusea I thank thee!

[masansr]

"We need to separate four eggs" and my mind filled in "Yes, FOUR". YTP is too powerful.

[GeorgeChar]

I didn’t know that Alaska was made out of cake. That’s great to know for my next trip there! 🌎🥄

[williamchen]

I have no idea why but Adam is the only channel where I don't skip the sponsors, he's just so creative in linking his cooking videos to random sponsors.

[haydenjohnw]

This is my favorite dessert of all time but I’ve always found it too complex to make at home. Thank you for this 😭

[annbrookens]

I've often thought about making a Baked Alaska but never have; this one is much easier than the others I've seen!

[ohoboho]

Hey Adam! Excellent tutorial. My family tried it out at our son's birthday party and the result was astonishing. It really left guests impressed and satisfied. Thanks for sharing such awesome recipes!

[_-]

This guys the best man, as a brit I love when he says 'brits would say' its a nice touch ngl.

[thatguysomething]

This somewhat reminds me of a french dish called "omelette norvégienne", it has the same meringue toping and icecream center. Its quite nice, but this one seems better!

[AndromedaCripps]

Interesting take! As an amateur home cook, I find traditional baked Alaska is no harder than this! The only thing that is difficult is getting the meringue in a piping bag to pipe around your cake and ice cream 😂 I usually end up just smearing it on in dollops 🤷🏻‍♀️ The recipe I’ve followed in the past also calls for ganache in the center of your ice cream mound. You could easily add a layer of ganache to this version of you wanted!

If you’re going for something that looks good but you’re not as worried about everything being homemade, you can buy any sort of dense cake (like pound cake) from the store to cut that part of the recipe out. Or, alternatively, go hard core and even make your ice cream! It’s a deceptively simple old fashioned show stopping dessert with many levels of difficulty and options for variety, one of my favorite recipes!