Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska was the ultimate 1970s children's treat - the miracle of ice cream inside a hot cooked meringue.... sometimes the simplest pleasures are the best!  A gooey confection of meringue, ice cream, fruit and cake, it  is surprisingly easy to put together and so last-minute, it gives almost immediate gratification.  There are many versions, and you could experiment with chocolate cake and ice cream, but this is easily the nicest.

Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska

sponge cake (equivalent to 1 x 8” sandwich tin size)

fresh fruit

red jam/Framboise (omit the alcohol if you are making this for children)

ice cream

3 egg whites

5oz/140g sugar

Preheat the oven to 220deg C.

In an ovenproof dish, put the sponge cake in first, as the base, and cover with the fruit.  If you have time, you can simmer the fruit slightly beforehand, or melt some jam and pour it over.  Add a slug of liqueur.   Cover this in ice cream.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add the caster sugar and whisk until the sugar is incorporated into the meringue.  Pile the meringue on top of the fruit/ice cream mound, making sure that the meringue covers every bit of the ice cream so that it doesn’t melt prematurely.

Put into the oven for 3-5 minutes until the meringue is very lightly browned.

Serve immediately.   This will be enough for 6 people, or 4 very greedy ones!