Baked Alaska - The Daring Bakers' August Challenge

Last month I joined the Daring Bakers over at The Daring Kitchen.  Each month this group is challenged to create a dish.  We all make the same thing, with certain variables allowed, and we all post it on the same day.  Not a competition, this exercise is a challenge to ourselves to become better in the kitchen. 


The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”. 


This is my first outing with the Daring Bakers and it's a good one.  Even though Baked Alaska has fallen out of favor and is now thought of as old fashioned, there are several good techniques involved in making one.  This Baked Alaska consists of browned butter pound cake, homemade ice cream and meringue.  Although over the years I've made mountains of meringue, gallons of ice cream and even a browned butter pound cake or two, I still challenged myself by choosing to forgo all my fancy kitchen gadgets and go old-school.  No ice cream maker, no piping bag, not even an icing spatula (okay I did use my stand mixer).  It was fun!

First up, make the ice cream.  If you're making ice cream without an ice cream maker, choose a custard-based one for the best results.  Make the ice cream a day in advance so it can freeze overnight.  I used this David Lebovitz recipe for a delicious vanilla.  The main trick is to vigorously stir the freezing cream every thirty minutes or so for the first 2 or 3 hours.  This keeps ice crystals from forming and ensures that you get a nice, creamy mouth feel to your ice cream.  My finished product was as good as any I've made in my ice cream maker.  I've never done this before and was happy to know how well it works.  When your ice cream is at the soft stage, line your mold with plastic wrap, being sure to leave plenty of extra wrap hanging over the sides, scoop in the ice cream, fold the excess wrap over the top and put it in the freezer for several hours or overnight until it freezes hard.

Next make the pound cake.  Browned butter is a neat ingredient, handy for making lots of things.  The main trick here is not to take your eyes off of it.  It can go from browned to burnt in the blink of an eye.  Browned is delicious; burnt is garbage.  The smell and taste of browned butter is described as nutty but to me it tastes almost like caramel.  Allow time for the butter to cool and congeal before making the pound cake.

Browned Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter 

2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)

1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt 

1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar 

1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar 

4 large eggs 

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. 

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes. 

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. 

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract. 

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined. 

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. 

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 

I made my pound cake the night before, along with the ice cream, let it cool completely and then wrapped it and put it in the refrigerator so that it would carve easily.


Finally, make the meringue.  Meringue is easy and not quite as fragile as you may think.  It's quick, so make it during the assembly stage.  Make sure your bowl is completely clean and your egg whites are room temperature.  Even a spot of yolk will keep your egg whites from coming together so separate them carefully.

Meringue

8 large egg whites (I found this to be way too much meringue.  The 5 whites you have left from the ice cream should be sufficient)

1/2 teaspoon (3g) cream of tartar 

1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt 

1 cup (220g) sugar 

Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on high speed in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar gradually in a slow stream until stiff peaks form. 

Assembly

Now for the fun part!  Take your cake out, unwrap it and carve it to whatever shape corresponds with your ice cream mold.

(Do you think Duff Goldman will hire me?)

Put your carved cake on a parchment-lined baking sheet and invert your ice cream on to it, trimming any excess cake for a good fit.  This is a good time to make the meringue; stick your cake and ice cream back in the freezer while you're doing it.

Frost your cake and ice cream shape with your meringue.  You can use a piping bag and tip to be fancy but, in honor of the original, I wanted mine to look more like an iceberg or some sort of snow shape.

At this point you can brown your creation with a kitchen torch but technically that would not be a BAKED Alaska.  It also belies the magic of Baked Alaska.  The neat thing about a Baked Alaska is that this ice cream cake can be put in the oven without the ice cream melting.  The science behind it is that meringue is a good insulator.  So, if you want to be authentic, pop your creation into a 500 degree oven for about 5 minutes or until browned.  If you leave it in there much longer the parchment paper, which is useful for transferring the cake from the baking sheet, will burn.

Pull it out of the oven, transfer it to a serving dish and serve.  Delicious!

By the way, that burning one you see being danced around the dining room on cruise ships, Gloria Estefan playing in the background, is actually a Bombe Alaska and is created by either splashing the cake with dark rum and lighting it afire or, more safely, baking a small dish into the top of the cake, which is filled with the liquor and lit. (I was actually on a cruise when this post went live.  I was surprised to discover that Carnival, at least, no longer does the Bombe Alaska dance!  Evidently they decided it was too dangerous, or so our server told us!)

So what do you think?  Are you ready to take this on?  It may be old enough to be new again!  Elissa made individual little ones, using teacups as the ice cream form.  I loved that idea.  Perfect for a ladies' lunch!