Baked Alaska

Here's a simple dessert.

There are numerous ways to make this, but here's how you can make individual portions. This will make a bunch of servings and it has to be eaten right away or it won't taste good (meringue does poorly in the freezer) so you might want to hold off until a party or something.

First, bake or buy a cake with no frosting. Any kind will do. The simplest way to do this is probably buy a box of cake mix ($1.09 at my grocery store) and bake the cake following the recipe on the box.

After it cools, take a circular-shaped cookie cutter and cut out as many pieces as possible.

Next, take a scoop of ice cream and put it on top of each piece of cake (any kind will work but traditionally it is pistachio ice cream).

Next, place this in the freezer for 30+ minutes (ideally 2+ hours).

Next, make some meringue (recipe in the spoiler) and cover each cake and the ice cream.

Spoiler:

Finally, there are two choices.

The standard choice is to bake this in an extremely hot oven (500 degrees) for a few minutes until the meringue turns brown.

OR

Pour some sort of alcohol that is at least 80 proof (triple sec / Gran Marnier is probably a good choice) and ignite with a match and let the alcohol burn off. To make the flambé even more exciting, add some cinnamon before igniting.

Serve immediately.


WARNING Do not try and get lazy and make cupcakes instead of a cake. It won't work at all as the cupcakes aren't flat. The ice cream will fall off.

If you prefer one cake......

Follow the above recipe with this variation:

Make the cake in a round dish (line dish with wax paper or something so it will come out easier) and take it out.

Pack ice cream in a round bowl that is a bit smaller than the cake (again line with wax paper) and place it on top.

Cover in meringue and cook it in the oven or flambé.