Baked Alaska (2024)

FAQs

What is a Baked Alaska made of? ›

Baked Alaska is an old-school dessert that consists of a layer of cake, a frozen ice cream center, and a coating of toasted marshmallowy meringue. It's essentially a fancy version of an ice cream cake, and though it is, admittedly, fussier to make than your average dessert, it's totally worth it for that wow-factor.

Air is a good thermal insulator – it is a poor conductor of heat. As you bake the meringue, the ice cream is insulated by both the meringue and the sponge, so the heat from the oven does not have time to reach it.

In France, Baked Alaska is called omelette norvégienne or 'Norwegian omelette'.

Etymology. The name "baked Alaska" was supposedly coined in 1876 at Delmonico's, a restaurant in New York City, to honor the acquisition by the United States of Alaska from the Russian Empire in March 1867.

Now, four years later, Baked Alaska will return exclusively to Ben & Jerry's nationwide Scoop Shops so fans can enjoy being reunited with their favourite flavour scooped in a crunchy waffle cone or swirly sundae!

There are still a few places where you can find Baked Alaska -- like the Oceanaire in the Galleria -- but more common these days are updates and interpretations of the old dessert.

Vanilla ice cream and sponge cake topped with a meringue covering.

What is the difference between bombe Alaska and baked Alaska? A bombe Alaska is coated with hot, high-proof rum before serving and set alight or flambéed. A baked Alaska is browned using a torch or the broiler setting in an oven.

"This recipe(Pommes de terre Rôtis)is adapted from a cookbook, La pomme de terre: de la purée aux gnocchi. When I prepared this giant hash brown for my father, who considers himself somewhat of a potato guru, he couldn't stop commenting on the superb flavor and the crunchiness.

Omelette norvégienne (Baked Alaska)

Why is the Baked Alaska so difficult? ›

They're not as difficult to make when all of the layers are chilled, but what makes Baked Alaska seem impossible is that the whole dessert goes into the oven — and yet, when sliced, reveals a still-frozen interior of ice cream.

It's made from tartaric acid, a byproduct of the winemaking process. As grape juice sits and ferments, potassium bitartrate precipitates and forms crystals on the inside of the casks which can then be collected and processed to make cream of tartar.

Eskimo ice cream, called Akutaq (ah-goo-duck), is an Alaskan delicacy! Unlike regular ice cream, this one is made up of animal fats, oils, and berries. This mixture kept the eskimos strength high while they were out hunting long hours.