Se7en Bake Alaska in Se7en Steps…

Sometimes I need to impress my kids, a little shock and surprise can go a long way to adding a bit of excitement to a day!!! Baking ice-cream in the oven for dessert is fairly impressive… according to them!!! I didn’t make this for years even though my kids begged and begged – it is one of those recipes that comes up again and again in recipe books and it looks so impressive. Well if I had known how easy it was!!! You need a layer of sponge cake, a tub of ice-cream and some meringue… and really it is so easy. This is what we are aiming for:

Let’s Meet the Players:

• One layer of Sponge Cake.
• About half a tub of ice-cream.



• And for the Meringue:
  • 4 extra-large egg whites,
  • 200 g castor sugar and
  • a pinch of salt.

Let’s Play the Game:

Step 1: The first step is to whip up a sponge cake. I use my recipe for the The Quickest Easiest Cake in the World in se7en Steps. I usually make this cake in two pans and layer it but for Baked Alaska we only need one layer.

Step 2: Place your completely cooled cake on an oven proof tray or in an oven proof dish.

Step 3: Let your ice-cream soften slightly and spoon it onto the cake. Once you have spooned on as much ice-cream as your cake can handle then pop it into the freezer until your meringue is ready to bake and you are almost ready to serve your dessert.

Step 4: Now whip up your meringue: Separate the egg whites and pop them into the beater and beat like crazy until they stand firm…

Step 5: Turn the beater down to low and add the salt and sugar really slowly to your beaten egg whites. Turn the beater back on high. Leave the mixture beating and beating… until the mixture is really really smooth. When you pinch the mixture between your fingers it should be smooth (no more grainy sugar)… beat it that long!!!

Step 6: Cover your ice-cream covered cake in the meringue mixture. Completely cover that ice-cream, don’t let any bits of ice-cream or cake peak through.

Step 7: Finally bake your meringue covered ice-cream and cake in a hot oven: 220 degrees Celsius or 425 degrees Fahrenheit, for about 5 to ten minutes. Watch it and when the topping is crisp and brown you are done. Serve it straight away.

There you go – ice cream from the oven… and some very impressed Hoods!!!