No more sobbing in the kitchen on the eve of your little darling’s birthday this is a cake you can make! Fellow Disaster Chefs, do not freak when you see the word “meringue”. It really is a lot easier than I ever imagined, but follow the steps to the letter. It is tempting to whack the whisk straight up to high speed: resist.
Ingredients
For the Base
- 1½ pints (900 ml) raspberry ripple soft-scoop ice cream
- 9½ in (24 cm) ready-made sponge flan base
For the Meringue
- a little vinegar or lemon juice
- 4 large eggs
- 8½ oz (240 g) caster sugar
How to Make It
- Line a 23 cm (9 in) diameter pudding basin with a double layer of cling film. Spoon the ice cream into it, pressing down so you have an inverted dome shape with a smooth, level top surface. Fold in the cling film to cover and return to the freezer.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7). While it’s heating up, make the meringue.
- Clean a large metal or glass bowl (not plastic) with a little vinegar or lemon juice.
- Separate the eggs. Set aside the yolks for another recipe.
- Put the egg whites into your gorgeously clean bowl.
- Using an electric whisk, whisk the whites on a low speed. Gradually increase the speed to medium until they form soft peaks.
- Increase the speed of your whisk to its highest setting. Then, whisking continuously, add the sugar, a spoon at a time, until the meringue is shiny and holds stiff peaks.
- Take the ice cream bowl out of the freezer. Put the flan base on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. With the help of the cling film, pull the ice cream out of the bowl and put it dome-side up on the flan base. Remove all the cling film.
- Quickly spoon the meringue over the ice cream and flan, right down to the baking parchment, making pretty peaks as you go.
- Put into the centre of your hot oven and cook for 4 minutes, or until the meringue is set and light golden in colour.
- Carefully transfer the Alaska to a serving plate… if you can wait.