For those who don’t know, baked Alaska is an ice cream cake with meringue. The bottom layer is cake, topped with ice cream, and covered with meringue.
You have to freeze the ice cream and cake together for at least 24 hours. Why? Because you bake it at 425 degrees.
Your cake should be rock-solid. Otherwise, you will have a big mess to clean up in your oven. Or worse, it may burn.
The goal is to have the meringue turn golden brown and the cake and ice cream to soften, but not melt. Then it’ll come out delicious.
When and where I first discovered baked Alaska
The first time I discovered it was in 2006 on the Disney Cruise, when I was 12. I didn’t order it, but I think I saw a waiter carry one.
The first time I actually made it myself was in my senior year of high school. I baked it in a cooking class.
The different variations I did
Ice cream from scratch
I don’t remember when I made a baked Alaska this way. However, I do recall that I had relatives over and they tried it. I believe they enjoyed it.
Pound cake and ice cream
This is the way I made it in high school. Because we only had about 45 minutes, we often had to spread our cooking projects over at least a couple of days.
But with the baked Alaska, we got to make and enjoy it the same day. So, of course, we used premade ice cream and pound cake.
Angel food cake and ice cream
I probably did this when I was still in my teens and when I didn’t want to make a cake.
The most recent baked Alaska bummer
On New Year’s Day of this year, 2021, I tried to make a baked Alaska instead of the Baskin Robbins style ice cream cake I had originally intended. Unfortunately, a family conflict came up, so I never got to make it.
Conclusion
Baked Alaska can be prepared in various ways. Just remember that it takes patience and discipline to get it right.