Indulge in the delectable Alaska Sheet Cake, a dessert fit for any occasion. This classic American treat boasts moist and fluffy cake layers, sandwiched between a creamy and rich chocolate frosting. Its simple yet elegant appearance makes it a versatile choice for potlucks, bake sales, or special gatherings. With its easy-to-follow recipe, even novice bakers can create this crowd-pleasing confection. This article presents two variations of the Alaska Sheet Cake: the traditional chocolate frosting version and a unique cream cheese frosting version. Both recipes provide detailed instructions, ingredient lists, and baking tips to ensure success in your baking endeavor. So, gather your ingredients, preheat your oven, and embark on a delightful baking journey to create the ultimate Alaska Sheet Cake experience.
Let's cook with our recipes!
BAKED ALASKA
Cake and ice cream dessert topped with meringue -- vary ice cream flavors for your signature dish. I like cherry-burgundy ice cream!
Provided by shirleyo
Categories Desserts Frozen Dessert Recipes Ice Cream Cake Recipes
Time 11h
Yield 16
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round mixing bowl or deep 8-inch square container with foil. Spread ice cream in container, packing firmly. Cover and freeze 8 hours or until firm.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x8 inch pan.
- Prepare cake mix with egg and almond extract. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake in preheated oven according to package instructions, until center of cake springs back when lightly touched.
- Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, salt and sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or heavy brown paper. Place cake in center. Turn molded ice cream out onto cake. Quickly and prettily spread meringue over cake and ice cream, all the way to paper to seal. Return to freezer 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Bake the Alaska on the lowest shelf, 8 to 10 minutes, or until meringue is lightly browned. Serve at once.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 330 calories, Carbohydrate 53.1 g, Cholesterol 40.7 mg, Fat 11.1 g, Fiber 0.7 g, Protein 6 g, SaturatedFat 5.1 g, Sodium 315.1 mg, Sugar 44 g
NEAPOLITAN BAKED ALASKAS
Individual servings of baked Alaska start as gelato -- strawberry and vanilla -- and chocolate cake that are layered in teacups and frozen overnight. Just before serving, spread the meringue onto each mound, and then bake or torch until evenly toasted outside and wonderfully marshmallow-like and gooey inside.
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Dessert & Treats Recipes
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, line with parchment, then coat parchment.
- Beat 1/2 cup sugar and the yolks with a mixer on medium speed until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Beat in vanilla and warm chocolate. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Whisk whites and salt with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until sugar dissolves. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Whisk a third of meringue into chocolate mixture. Gently fold in remaining meringue in 2 additions.
- Spread batter into prepared sheet. Bake until cake is set and top is dull, about 25 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack. Invert cake onto work surface. Using a 2 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 8 circles and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Reserve scraps for another use.
- Coat eight 1-cup teacups or ramekins with cooking spray, then line with plastic, leaving a 2-inch overhang. Pack 1/2 cup strawberry gelato into bottom of each cup. Top with 1/2 cup vanilla gelato, then 1 cake circle. Cover each with plastic, and freeze overnight.
- Let cakes stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Using plastic overhang, unmold cakes onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Wrap with plastic, then freeze.
- Working with 1 at a time, spoon 1/2 cup meringue on cake, spreading it over entire surface with an offset spatula. Hold a small handheld kitchen torch at a 90-degree angle 3 to 4 inches from surface of meringue. Move flame back and forth until meringue begins to brown. Alternatively, heat oven to 500 degrees. Bake cakes on top rack until meringue begins to brown, about 2 minutes. (If ice cream begins to soften, freeze for 15 minutes.) Serve immediately.
BAKED ALASKA
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Categories dessert
Time 6h29m
Yield 12 servings
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Make the ice cream cake: Brush a 3-quart metal bowl with vegetable oil; line with plastic wrap. Fill the bowl with scoops of the sorbet, vanilla ice cream and half of the chocolate ice cream, alternating small and large scoops to create a mosaic of colors and shapes. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the ice cream; press down to close the gaps between scoops and even out the surface. Remove the plastic wrap, sprinkle the ice cream with the wafer crumbs and re-cover with the plastic wrap, pressing gently. Freeze until set, about 30 minutes.
- Remove the wrap and spread the remaining chocolate ice cream in an even layer on top of the crumbs. Cut the pound cake into 1/2-inch-thick slices; completely cover the ice cream with the slices, trimming as needed (you'll use about two-thirds of the cake). Cover with fresh plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Make the meringue: Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar on high speed until the whites are glossy and hold stiff peaks.
- Remove the top layer of plastic wrap, then invert the cake onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. (If necessary, let the cake stand overturned until it slips out.) Remove the rest of the plastic wrap and cover the ice cream completely with the meringue, making the dome-shaped top slightly thicker than the sides. Form swirly peaks in the meringue using the back of a spoon. Freeze for at least 3 more hours.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake the cake until the meringue peaks are golden, about 4 minutes, or brown the meringue with a blowtorch. Let the cake soften at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Freeze any leftovers.
BAKED ALASKA
Baked alaska was once a restaurant show stopper. A layering of spongecake, ice cream and meringue, it was presented on a tray and flambeed at the table to heat the covering of meringue so you had both warm and cold sensations as you ate it. But some restaurants serve it in individual portions, relying on a blowtorch back in the kitchen to caramelize the meringue. When Amanda Hesser brought this recipe to The Times in 1998, the pastry chef Stacie Pierce of the Union Square Cafe used espresso caramel ice cream instead of vanilla or chocolate and served a big ball of it on top of a tender chocolate souffle cake, rather than the traditional spongecake. The warm and cold effect is the same, and the flavors, sharper and distinct, come across as more mature.
Provided by Amanda Hesser
Categories ice creams and sorbets, dessert
Time 2h
Yield 8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, and set aside.
- Separate 4 eggs into two bowls. To the yolks add 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Set aside. Using the mixer, whisk the egg whites and a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar until the whites are stiff and shiny.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold the melted chocolate into the yolk mixture; then, fold the chocolate mixture into the meringue. Do not overmix. Spread the batter in an even layer, about 1/2 inch thick, on the baking sheet. Bake until the cake is spongy and moist, and slightly crisp on top, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
- Using a 3-inch round cutter, press eight circles of cake. Position circles on a large baking sheet lined with parchment. Place a large scoop of ice cream on each circle. Sprinkle with toasted nuts. Put baking sheet in freezer.
- Separate the 12 remaining eggs, reserving yolks for another use and placing whites in a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt and cream of tartar. Using an electric mixer, whisk until frothy; then, increase speed to high and mix until soft peaks form. Slowly add superfine sugar, whisking until meringue is very stiff. Add remaining teaspoon of vanilla; whisk until blended.
- Fit a pastry bag with a large closed-star tip, and fill the bag with meringue. Remove baking sheet from the freezer. Starting at the base of each cake, pipe rosettes in a circular pattern until cake and ice cream are completely covered. Freeze at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, preheat the broiler. Place baked alaskas under the broiler for 10 to 15 seconds, until meringue is caramelized on the edges. (This may also be done with a kitchen blowtorch.) Transfer to plates, and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 639, UnsaturatedFat 11 grams, Carbohydrate 96 grams, Fat 23 grams, Fiber 2 grams, Protein 16 grams, SaturatedFat 10 grams, Sodium 593 milligrams, Sugar 90 grams, TransFat 0 grams
BAKED ALASKA
This is an impressive dessert for any occasion. For Thanksgiving, I make the pumpkin version of this Baked Alaska recipe instead of pumpkin pie. -Linda Sanner, Portage, Wisconsin
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Desserts
Time 55m
Yield 12 servings.
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Spoon ice cream into a 1-1/2-qt. bowl lined with plastic wrap; freeze until firm. Line a greased 9-in. round baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside. Place a clean kitchen towel over a wire rack; dust towel with confectioners' sugar. Set aside., In a large bowl, beat the eggs, 3 tablespoons water and vanilla. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating until thick and lemon-colored. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; fold into egg mixture. , Gently spoon into prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately run a knife around edge of pan; invert onto prepared wire rack. Gently peel off waxed paper; cool completely., In a large heavy saucepan, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar and remaining sugar and water; beat on low speed with a portable mixer for 1 minute. Continue beating over low heat until mixture reaches 160°, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add rum extract; beat until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved, about 4 minutes. , Place cake on an ungreased foil-lined baking sheet; unmold ice cream and place over cake. Immediately spread meringue over ice cream and cake, sealing it to foil; sprinkle with almonds. Freeze until ready to serve, up to 24 hours. , Just before serving, heat with a creme brulee torch or broil on lowest oven rack position for 3-5 minutes or until meringue is light browned. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 225 calories, Fat 6g fat (3g saturated fat), Cholesterol 55mg cholesterol, Sodium 112mg sodium, Carbohydrate 38g carbohydrate (29g sugars, Fiber 0 fiber), Protein 5g protein.
Tips:
- Mise en place: Before you start baking, make sure you have all the ingredients and equipment you need. This will make the process go much smoother.
- Use room-temperature ingredients: Cold ingredients can make the batter thick and difficult to mix. Bringing them to room temperature before you start baking will help ensure a smooth batter and a light, fluffy cake.
- Don't overmix the batter: Overmixing can develop the gluten in the flour, making the cake tough. Mix the batter just until the ingredients are combined.
- Bake the cake in a preheated oven: This will help the cake rise evenly and prevent it from sinking in the middle.
- Don't open the oven door during baking: This can cause the cake to fall. If you need to check on the cake, do so through the oven window.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting it: This will help prevent the frosting from melting and running off the cake.
Conclusion:
The Alaska Sheet Cake is an easy, delicious cake that is perfect for any occasion. It's moist, fluffy, and full of chocolate flavor. The frosting is rich and creamy, and the chopped walnuts add a nice crunchy texture. Follow these tips to make the best Alaska Sheet Cake:
- Use high-quality ingredients.
- Follow the recipe carefully.
- Don't overmix the batter.
- Bake the cake in a preheated oven.
- Don't open the oven door during baking.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting it.
With a little care and attention, you'll be able to make a delicious Alaska Sheet Cake that everyone will love.
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