Mommy 'Til Midnight: Sweet Tooth Sunday-Baked Alaska

Monday, March 26, 2012

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Baked Alaska

Can we all just jump up and down and scream "YEAH!!" for the return of Mad Men?! I have to admit, I didn't watch it until a few months ago, but now I'm hooked. I got caught up with all four seasons while I was away on maternity leave. I needed something to watch while I was nursing and this was addicting! Thank God for Netflix!

In honor of the premiere of the new season, I wanted to make a retro dessert for this week's Sweet Tooth Sunday. After some scouring of the internets, I found this article about Mad Men parties on Epicurious. I've heard of Baked Alaska, but have never tried it. I'm pretty proud of how this tasted and it was pretty simple too.

Baked Alaska
1 frozen pound cake (10 3/4 oz)-do NOT thaw
2 pints of strawberry ice cream
6 egg whites
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp lemon juice
3/4 c. sugar

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Cut the pound cake crosswise, 1/2 inch thick. Line a 9 inch pie plate with the cake. Patch up any holes with the extra cake.

Cut the cartons off of the ice cream. Slice into 3 rounds for each pint of ice cream. Arrange the ice cream rounds into one layer over the pound cake. Use any leftover ice cream to fill in the holes. Freeze for 25 minutes.

After the cake/ice cream has been in the freezer for 20 minutes, beat the egg whites and a pinch of salt with a hand mixer until it's foamy. Add lemon juice and beat until the mixture holds soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar while beating until it holds stiff, glossy peaks.

Remove the ice cream/cake from the freezer and spread the meringue over the top and spreading it out to the sides. Bake in the over for about 6 minutes until the top starts to brown.