epicurious
Easy Baked Alaska
A one-bowl vanilla cake, doctored store-bought ice cream, and quick raspberry curd make this impressive dessert totally achievable for your next dinner party.
👥 10 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 2h 30m👤 Kendra Vaculin📖 epicurious
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●baking sheet
- ●oven
- ●bowl
- ●pan
- ●saucepan
- ●blender
- ●whisk
- ●spatula
- ●knife
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Brittle
2
Preheat oven to 450°. Toast ½ cup raw pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, about ⏱️ 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, then coarsely chop. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
3
Mix nuts, 3 Tbsp. light or dark brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. honey, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl with your hands to evenly distribute (mixture will be clumpy and sticky). Scatter over reserved baking sheet and bake until deep golden brown and bubbling, about ⏱️ 4 minutes. Let cool, then break brittle into small pieces. Do ahead: Brittle can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
. light or dark brown sugar3 Tbsp. honey2 Tbsp
4
Curd
5
Bring 1½ lb. fresh raspberries (about 4 pints), ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar, and ¼ cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook, stirring and scraping down sides of pan occasionally and mashing berries, until slightly thickened, 10–⏱️ 12 minutes. Transfer to a blender; purée. Let cool slightly. Rinse out saucepan.
½ lb. fresh raspberries (about 4 pints)1
6
Whisk raspberry purée, 4 large egg yolks (save the whites for making the meringue), ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar in saucepan to combine. Set over medium heat; cook, stirring and scraping sides and bottom of pan often with a heatproof rubber spatula, until slightly thickened and glossy (it shouldn’t bubble), about ⏱️ 5 minutes. Add 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces, a piece at a time, stirring after each addition until melted and combined before adding more. Strain curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl; discard solids. Let cool. Do ahead: Curd can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt2 tsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces5 Tbsp
7
Cake and Assembly
8
Line a 9"–10"-diameter bowl with a 10-cup capacity (10 cups water should fill or come within 1" of rim) with plastic wrap, leaving generous overhang on all sides. Mix 2 pints vanilla ice cream, softened in refrigerator ⏱️ 20 minutes, and brittle in a medium bowl to evenly distribute brittle. Scrape mixture into prepared bowl; smooth into an even layer. Pour half of cooled curd over; smooth into an even layer. Freeze until set, at least ⏱️ 1 hour. Cover and chill remaining curd in fridge.
pints vanilla ice cream, softened in refrigerator 20 minutes2
9
Meanwhile, preheat oven temperature to 350°. Lightly coat a 9"-diameter cake pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray, then line with a parchment paper round and lightly coat parchment with nonstick spray. Whisk 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar in a large bowl. Drizzle in 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Drizzle in 1 cup water; whisk until batter is smooth. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth surface.
Nonstick vegetable oil spray½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, divided1. baking soda1 tsp. vegetable oil5 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar1 tsp. vanilla extract, divided2 tsp
10
Bake cake until golden brown at edges and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25–⏱️ 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cake cool in pan ⏱️ 10 minutes. Run a knife around sides to loosen; invert cake onto rack. Let cool completely.
11
Scoop 2 pints pistachio ice cream, softened in refrigerator ⏱️ 20 minutes, on top of curd in bowl from freezer; smooth into an even layer. Pour remaining chilled curd over ice cream; smooth into an even layer. Set cake, upside down, on top and wrap plastic over cake; freeze at least ⏱️ 8 hours and up to 1 day.
pints pistachio ice cream, softened in refrigerator 20 minutes2
12
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat 4 large egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form, about ⏱️ 5 minutes. With motor running, beat in remaining ½ cup (100 g) sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time; beat until meringue is thick and glossy, about ⏱️ 3 minutes. Beat in remaining 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
. vanilla extract, divided2 tsp
13
Invert bowl with baked Alaska onto a heatproof platter if torching or a baking sheet if broiling; rub bowl to warm slightly to help loosen. Carefully remove bowl, tugging at plastic wrap; peel away plastic. Spoon meringue over cake and spread, swirling decoratively, to cover. Freeze at least ⏱️ 10 minutes if torching or at least ⏱️ 30 minutes if broiling and up to ⏱️ 1 hour.
14
Toast meringue until browned with a kitchen torch or heat a broiler and bake until golden brown on top, about ⏱️ 3 minutes. Do ahead: Cake can be baked 1 day ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.
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