Baked Alaska

Consider this a revitalized version of the classic dessert! This Baked Alaska is layered with a chewy yet dense cardamom cake, crunchy sugared almonds, and layers honey comb, vanilla bean and pistachio ice cream. The final touch is an Italian meringue that is brûléed for a fluffy, toasted finish.  

  • Medium
  • 360 mins
  • 15 servings
Baked Alasaka cut opened on a wooden serving board with parchment paper.
Top view of slices of baked alaska laying on top of white plate.
Ingredients

For the Cake 

  • 10 ½ tbsp unsalted butter, melted (150 g) 
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar, packed (264 g) 
  • 2/3 cup sliced almonds 
  • ¼ cup sanding sugar (57g) 
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt (2 g) 
  • 4 large egg yolks (56 g) 
  • 4 large egg whites (140 g) 
  • 1 tsp Rodelle vanilla paste (8 g) 
  • ½ cups, plus 2 tbs and 2 tsp all-purpose flour (203 g) 
  • ½ cups, plus 2 tbs and 2 tsp cake flour (203 g) 
  • 2 tbsp Cardamom, ground (18g) 

For the Italian Meringue  

  • 1/3 cup brown sugar (71 g) 
  • 3 tablespoons corn syrup (59 g) 
  • 1 oz water (28 g) 
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract (4.6 g) 
  • 6 large egg white, (210 g) 

For the Ice Cream Layers  

  • 2 quarts pistachio ice cream   
  • 1 quart vanilla bean ice cream 
  • 1 quart honey comb ice cream  
Uses
Occasions
Directions
  1. In a loaf pan, in similar length to your cake sheet pan, lay a large sheet of plastic wrap inside, enough to cover pan contents once full. Use an ice cream scoop, start with pistachio, creating one layer of ice cream. On top of the pistachio, interchangeably scoop a layer of vanilla and honeycomb ice cream. 
  2. Once all ice cream is layered, cover with extra plastic wrap and with fingers smooth out and lightly compact ice cream so it is more of a solid block. Place in the freezer for 2-3 hours to refreeze. 
  3. Preheat an oven to 350 F. Parchment a 9.5” x 13” sheet pan then butter. Sprinkle sliced almonds and sanding sugar evenly across sheet pan. 
  4. Separate eggs and melt butter, set yolks aside and add whites to mixer on medium high, until soft peak form 5-7 minutes. 
  5. In a separate bowl combine the sugar, egg yolks, butter, salt,  vanilla and cardamom. Mix well and gradually add flours until well combined. 
  6. Fold in whipped egg whites. Adding by thirds, mix the first roughly to “thin” out your batter and gently fold the remaining two thirds to lighten your batter. Carefully spread over sheet pan on top of almond and sugar mixture.  
  7. Bake the cake for 15-18 minutes or until the cake bounces back when gently pressed in center. De-pan on a wire cooling rack, 5-8 minutes after.  
  8. While cake bakes prep meringue ingredients. Separate egg whites and add to a mixing bowl, whip until stiff peaks.  
  9. While the egg whites whisk. In a sauce pot add brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla extract. Cook on medium high heat until temperature reaches 240F, remove from heat and slowly stream into whipping egg whites, mix for 60 seconds after sugar syrup is incorporated, place in fridge for later use. 
  10. Once cake is cool and ice cream block frozen, use the ice cream pan to trim cake to size of ice cream layers. This does not have to be perfect, as long as the cake base is the same or larger than the ice cream. Using the plastic wrap remove and unwrap ice cream layers and place on top of cake, pistachio side up. 
  11. Remove meringue from fridge, and working quickly cover cake and ice cream layers with as generous portion of meringue, even out layers and use a fork or spoon to create a wispy design and add texture to your meringue.   
  12. Place cake in the freezer until ready to serve. Once ready remove and using a kitchen torch, brûlée the outer layer of meringue to create a toasty and slightly crisp texture. Cut and serve immediately, extra can be held in the freezer.  

Tip 

  • Make sure to invest in high quality ice cream for this, it is the main component of the dish and should be creamy and high fat. 
  • A quarter sheet pan and loaf pan are great options for baking your cake and molding the ice cream layers, but two pans with similar lengths will do, you can cut your cake layer to fit.  
  • A good thermometer is important for temping the sugar prior to removing from the stove. 
  • Make sure to not over whip the eggs for your meringue, if timing with your sugar syrup does not align, stop the mixer. 
  • You can finish your baked Alaska in the oven at 500F for 3-4 minutes but we recommend a small kitchen torch for more control and less melting potential.  

Recipe was prepared for Rodelle by ADM culinary chef, Morgan Osborne. Photos taken by Amanda at frommetovuu.