Baked Alaska

First off, my apologies to my readers for not blogging at my regular pace- I was taking care of family back in India, but I'm back and I mean business....

It's weird weather right now. There was a snow storm this early in the year and now its mostly sunny with a nip in the air. A Baked Alaska is not unlike Fall in North America: hot and cold at the same time. With easy to find ingredients and a little prep work ahead of time a unique dessert can make your meal memorable. It's a great way to use leftover cake and sometimes can serve as a short order celebratory cake. Stick a few sparklers or candles in it and it works as good as any fancy special occasion cake. it can be made into individual servings like the ones I made or into one larger dessert which is served in slices. Once you get the hang of it - go crazy and try layering different ice creams and sorbets.

Ingredients for 4 Baked Alaska:

Pound cake cut into 4" rounds

sugar syrup with vanilla essence or liquor ( optional)

4 scoops of ice cream or sorbet ( any flavor, vanilla ice cream with berry sorbet is my favorite)

4 egg whites

pinch cream of tartar

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1. If you are making a larger cake line a mould with plastic wrap and spray it with cooking spray to avoid sticking. Otherwise place the cake on a tray and pour a little flavored syrup or liquor over each to keep it moist and give it flavor. This step is optional. Place the ice cream/ sorbet in a pile over the cake making sure that it is not spilling over the sides but is sitting neatly in the center of the cake.

2. Freeze the cake and ice cream till hard. Make the meringue by whipping the egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar and gradually add in the powdered sugar. Once the meringue is stiff and doesn't fall off a spoon, pipe or spoon it onto the ice cream taking care to cover every bit of it. Freeze until just before serving.

3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F and bake the dessert for 4-5 minutes or until the meringue browns in spots or use a blow torch like I did. It works well and the results are fool-proof.