People always ask me about elegant desserts they can make ahead of time with very little or no effort prior to service. One of those elegant favorites is the always classic Baked Alaska.
If you’ve never had it before, it is a simple dessert made of ice cream, sponge cake and Italian meringue that is then quickly baked in an extremely hot oven or flamed with a torch, which is what I usually do.
This delicious little dessert was created at the famous Delmonico’s restaurant in NYC by Chef Charles Ranhofer to celebrate the USA purchase of the Alaskan Territory from Russia in 1867 which then became part of the union in 1959….hence the name and the iceberg look of the dessert.
This is a great little dessert that can be formed into either a large mould or individual ones ahead of time, and even coated with the meringue and flamed prior to service. The meringue never completely freezes, but just becomes a little more dense almost like marshmallow. By the time the dessert is ready to be served, the meringue will be back to the correct temperature and texture.
This was one of the desserts discussed in my radio segment this month on Grilliant Idea’s Blog talk Radio, and I had planned to enjoy it as a refreshing dessert for my birthday…so we did. The flavor of choice was of course chocolate…and not only chocolate but homemade double chocolate semifreddo filled with a black bing cherry compote and shards of chocolate. I have made the double chocolate semifreddo before, but since these beautiful cherries are everywhere to be found these days, I just had to throw some of them in. Ideally, I wanted to use some brandy in the ice cream with the cherries but I was out, and ended up using some whiskey instead…worked well as would rum.
I whipped it up together, put it into some greased and plastic lined bowls then froze them until I was ready to add the meringue. That morning, I made the meringue, piped it on and flamed them all with a torch…perfect, easy and delicious…dessert was already done and all I had to worry about was celebrating.
Double Chocolate Cherry Baked Alaska (makes 4-6 small portions or one larger bowl)
1 recipe double chocolate semifreddo
1 recipe Italian meringue
Cake of your choice **traditional version includes this but is optional
First make the cherry compote and set aside to cool completely. Then mix the ¼ cup of dark chocolate with 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil together and heat in the microwave until melted. Stir well to remove all of the lumps and pour out onto a small piece of parchment paper and spread out into a thin layer then freeze. Once frozen, break into small pieces and refreeze until ready to use.
Prepare the bowls you will be using to mould the Baked Alaska. Will you be using individual bowls/ramekins or a larger bowl? Make sure to check and see that you have plates/platters that will fit the dessert once it is inverted out of the mould. Spray the inside of each container with a little Pam spray and use a paper towel to spread it all over the inside part of the bowl and remove any excess. Cut a piece of plastic and line the entire inside of the container with it.
Next prepare the semifreddo which comes together very quickly. Once you have made it, toss in the cherry compote and the chocolate shards and fold everything in together. Freeze completely until ready to use. Once you are ready, prepare the Italian meringue and as it is cooling, invert all of the individual desserts onto their serving plates, then freeze again until you are ready to pipe on the meringue.
Place the tip of your choice into a clean pastry bag and fill with meringue. Pipe out little rosettes all over the surface of the Baked Alaska and then flame the dessert all around with a torch. Keep frozen until ready to enjoy.
Black Cherry Compote
1 ½ cups sliced and pitted cherries
2-4 tablespoons sugar (depending on the sweetness of the cherries)
3 tablespoons brandy
Add both together in a small pot and cook until the juice has thickened, about 10 minutes, then set aside to cool before incorporating into dessert.
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