Mini Baked Alaska

If you've never had Baked Alaska, let me tell you about it. Think layers of cake and ice cream all underneath a dome of crispy meringue. Man these are good, but a lot of work!!! I'm not giving specific measurements on this really, just explaining what I did to end up with 12 beautiful Mini Baked Alaskas. For my cake, I used a pound cake mix and baked it in a 9x13 inch pan for 28 minutes. I was able to get exactly 12 rounds. Brownie would also be great or even a sugar cookie! I used Blue Bell Milk Chocolate Ice Cream and Talenti Roman Raspberry Sorbetto (which was amazing). This took a lot of freezing time and freezer space, so make sure you've got plenty of both. I wasn't sure how much meringue icing I would need so I made it in batches. I mixed 1/2 cup meringue powder, 1/2 cup water, and 4 cups of powdered sugar. I ended up doing 3 batches of this which was perfect to cover 12 by piping. So 1 batch would work for 4. I also used little squares of foil to freeze everything on because it made it easier to fit them all into my freezer. I added a video at the bottom of me tapping my fork on the finished dessert so you can hear how crispy it gets in the oven! If you need a dessert to wow, these are show stoppers!!!

Mini Baked Alaska

12, 2 1/2 inch cake or brownie rounds

1, 1 1/2 quart container of ice cream

1 pint of sorbet

3/4 cup meringue powder

1 1/2 cups cold water

12 cups powdered sugar

1. Prepare your ice cream layer by scooping out a ball of ice cream with a regular sized ice cream scoop. Use the side of the ice cream container to flatten out the bottom of your scoop as you pull it up. This will make it sit nicely on the cake.

2. Using a tablespoon sized scoop, take out a small ball from the bottom of the scoop of ice cream, then scoop out the same size of ball of sorbet and place it into the hole. See the 3rd pic down. This can get messy, so make sure you are using ice cream that is hard. If your ice cream starts to soften up, stick it back in the freezer. Put the ice cream balls on something that will fit in your freezer or little squares of foil, like me. FREEZE THESE FOR 4 HOURS OR LONGER.

3. While ice cream is hardening, make the meringue icing. I ended up making it in 3 batches because it was a rainy day and I wanted to make sure my meringue peaks stayed stiff. For each batch mix 1/2 cup meringue powder and 1/2 cup cold water. Beat until peaks form. Then add 4 cups of powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

4. When ice cream balls are completely frozen, pull them out one at a time. Place the ball on a cake round. Pipe or spread on meringue icing however you want (I tried all kinds of tips) making sure to cover the cake and ice cream completely. Stick back in the freezer. Repeat for each ice cream ball.

5. FREEZE 4 MORE HOURS OR UP TO 2 DAYS.

6. When ready to serve, bake at 500 degrees on a baking sheet for 3-4 minutes until golden. Watch to make sure it doesn't get too dark. This crisps up the meringue, so I definitely recommend this method. You can also use a kitchen torch to toast it, but it doesn't crisp up like baking it does. Serve immediately.

Makes 12 LARGE portions.