Sugar-Coated Sundays: Baked Alaska

It's White Lights on Wednesday's 1st Birthday today!!  

Madness.  Pure Madness.

In case you missed the news yesterday, I'm having a blogiversary giveaway with some totally awesome prizes to celebrate!

So, today's recipe is Mike's fault.  He came home from work one day talking about Baked Alaska.  How the idea got in his head is beyond me, but he asked if I had ever made one. No.  I had not.  But then inspiration, it was only a couple months til the WLOW birthday and every birthday needs a great cake or fancy dessert.  Fancy Dessert it is for me!

I think we've covered that mike is not a strawberry fan, so I scrapped the original recipe's call for Neapolitan ice cream.  Instead I'm using one of our favorite ice creams and weaseling some booze it.  Booze makes everything better.  Or is it bacon?  Either way, this dessert is a total win.

One Year Ago: Owl-dorable Cupcakes

Baked Alaska
From Alton Brown

Ingredients:
Chiffon Cake    {you will have lots of left over cake}
5 1/4 ounces cake flour (by weight)  {I mixed 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup cornstarch, then weighed it out}
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 salt eggs, separated
6 ounces sugar (by weight), divided
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 1/2 quarts cookies and cream ice cream, softened  {or your ice cream of choice}
6 ounces sugar (by weight)
4 ounces light corn syrup
2 ounces water
4 ounces egg whites (by weight), room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt
White Creme de Cocoa liqueur, optional
Cocoa powder, optional

Directions:
Chiffon Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray a 9" x 13" baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and line with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. Place the egg yolks and 5 ounces of sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2 minutes, or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' when lifted.  Add the water, vegetable oil, and vanilla and whisk to combine.  Add the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine.  Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl while you whisk the egg whites.
4. Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean bowl and whisk on high using the whisk attachment until it becomes foamy.  Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the remaining ounce of sugar.  Increase speed to high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
5. Transfer 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and whisk until well combined.  Add the remaining egg whites and fold gently.  
6. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and tilt pan to coat until batter is evenly distributed.  Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Baked Alaska

Trace the opening of a 9" x 5" loaf pan onto the chiffon cake and cut out a section of cake to size.  Line the loaf pan with plastic wrap.

Place softened ice cream into the loaf pan and spread evenly.  There should be no gaps or air pockets.

Place the piece of cake on top of the ice cream, press down lightly, and if desired, brush the cake with 1 tablespoon of white creme do cocoa.  Place the pan in the freezer for 1 hour.  {You want the ice cream to be as hard as possible.

After an hour, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart saucepan and place over high heat.  Stir just until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.  Clip on a candy thermometer and bring the mixture to 240 degrees F.  {I was winging this part.  I don't have a candy thermometer.

While the syrup is cooking, place the egg whites, salt and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs on high speed until they reach medium peaks, 4 to 5 minutes.

When the syrup reaches 240 degrees F, remove from the heat and with the stand mixer on low, slowly pour the syrup in a thin steady stream into the egg white mixture, being careful not to come in contact with the whisk.  Once all the syrup has been added, increase the mixer speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks are formed and the mixture has cooled, 8 to 10 minutes

Remove the loaf pan from the freeze.  {You want the ice cream to be rock hard} Turn the ice cream upside down onto a heatproof serving platter, and remove the plastic wrap.  completely cover the ice cream and cake with a 1" layer of meringue all around, sealing in the meringue to the pan around the bottom edge.  {If you think you have enough meringue, you don't.  You need a really, really thick layer to keep the ice cream from melting when you torch the meringue.}

  

Use a propane torch to brown the meringue all over.  Serve immediately.  May be frozen once the meringue has browned.