| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 45 min |
| Prep: | 35 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 quarts neapolitan ice cream, softened
- 9 by 5 by 1/2-inch piece chiffon cake
- 8 ounces sugar
- 4 ounces light corn syrup
- 2 ounces water
- 4 ounces pasteurized egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Line a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap.
- Place the softened ice cream into the loaf pan and spread evenly.
- Place the piece of cake on top of the ice cream, press down lightly, and place the pan in the freezer for 1 hour.
- After an hour, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart saucepan and place over high heat. Stir just until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Clip on a candy thermometer and bring the mixture to 240 degrees F.
- While the syrup is cooking, place the egg whites, salt, and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs on high speed until they reach medium peaks, 4 to 5 minutes.
- When the sugar syrup reaches 240 degrees F, remove from the heat and, with the stand mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour the syrup in a thin steady stream into the egg white mixture, being careful not to come in contact with the whisk. Once all the syrup has been added, increase the mixer speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks are formed and the mixture has cooled, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove the loaf pan from the freezer, turn upside down onto a heatproof serving platter, and remove the plastic wrap. Completely cover the ice cream cake combo with a 1-inch layer of meringue all around, sealing the meringue to the pan around the bottom edge.
- Use a propane torch to brown the meringue all over. Serve immediately. May be frozen once the meringue has browned.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 363 |
| Total Fat | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 63 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 60 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 44 mg |
| Sodium | 127 mg |
Reviews
Entertaining aside, the meringue is good. Kinda like marshmallow creme. The 8 ounces of sugar was too sweet so I reduced it to 6 ounces sugar and it was spot on. Let it cool to room temp!
Important: If you’re using regular non pasteurized eggs, they take a lot less time to reach medium/stiff peaks.
The ice cream, make sure to let it freeze rock hard. Strawberry is good, but chocolate is perfect; the bitterness pairs perfectly with the sweet toasted meringue. Basically turns into a giant s’mores ice cream cake. Who doesn’t want that?
Cake, boxed mix is okay. But when I used chiffon cake it was much better. Just bake 1/4 of a chiffon cake recipe into a bread loaf pan lined with cooking-sprayed and floured parchment paper and you’re good to go.
Go steal the show with a blow torch, that is.
I couldn’t resist the temptation after seeing the Good Eats episode and sure enough Alton never disappoints! If you follow the recipe word for word – and the techniques step by step – there is NO WAY you can mess this up.
This was the first time I baked my own Alaska. I used chocolate fudge ice cream – my husbands favorite – and let me tell you the “jury” was very skeptical about it but it worked perfectly with the silky meringue and the buttery cake!
This is one of Alton’s many recipes that have made me “famous”!!!