Daring Bakers: Aug 2010 Baked Alsaka (Nutty & Toasty Meets Cool & Creamy)

“Another cake & Ice-cream challenge”,I sighed as I read the August Daring Bakers Challenge. I made a massive swiss-roll Ice-cream cake just last month for the DB challenge but was happy that this one was a Baked Alaska. I have seen so many chefs making this on tele and lusted for a slice of it, but never dared to make it. Well, it was time to shed my inhibitions, don the imaginary chef’s (toque) hat ,order the chef’s blow torch on Amazon (Oh I am such an internet junkie) and get on with the challenge. First I made a huge batch of strawberry ice-cream and let it freeze. Next, a browned butter pound cake. Assembling them and waiting for them to freeze was the most difficult thing to do, as I simply wanted to pipe the meringue and use my blow torch.
The August 2010 Daring Bakers challenge hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking, challenged us to make a pound cake using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.
Strawberry Balsamic Ice-Cream similar to this recipe

Ingredients

Strawberries – 400g hulled and slices

Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar – 1tsp

Sugar – 200 grams

Egg yolks – 10

Whole Milk – 500ml

Heavy Cream – 500ml

Vanilla Beans scrapped from a pod

Method:

Toss the strawberries in balsamic vinegar and a 1bsp of sugar and leave it aside for the flavors to mingle. Meanwhile, bring the milk, vanilla and cream to a boil in a pan and whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale. Pour the hot liquid over the yolks whisking all the time and bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring all the time until you get a custard consistencyand ensure the mixture coats the back of a spoon.  Strain the mixture and let it cool. Whizz the strawberries in a processor and combine it with the yolk mixture. Freeze in an Ice-cream maker according to manufactures instructions or freeze in an air-tight container churning the mixture in a processor every 2-3 hours as it freezes at least 3 times. This is important to break the ice crystals.

For the Browned Butter Pound Cake

I followed the recipe from here, but just made half the quantity and baked it in a smaller tin.

For the Meringue

Ingredients

Egg Whites -  100 grams

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Cream of Tartar - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Whisk the egg whites until frothy and add 1/4 cup of sugar, cream of tarter, salt and whisk on high until soft peaks form. Add the remaining sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fill up a piping bag (fitted with a star or round nozzle) with this beautiful meringue.

Assembly1: Take a ring mould and cover the base with a cling film leaving an  overhang. Cut off equal bits of cakes and place into a small ring mould. Scoop out the ice-cream and smooth on top of this. Place another layer of cake and finish with a smooth layer of ice-cream, gather the ends of cling film and cover it. Freeze for a couple of hours until firm. Un-mould the ice-cream cake, pipe the meringue onto this in whatever pattern you fancy. I used a spatula to spread the meringue like frosting and lifting it off randomly to create the ruffled look. Freeze this for a couple of hours.

Assembly 2: Take a bowl and cover the base with a cling film leaving an overhang. Cut out a round piece of cake using the bowl's rim as template. Scoop out the ice-cream and smooth it into the bowl and freeze until required. Un-mould the ice-cream onto the cake and pipe small stars, freeze for a couple of hours.
Using Blow-Torch: Work in a spacious clutter-free area to use blow-torch and make sure there is ventilation. Slightly toast the meringue using a blow-torch moving it constantly on all sides until brown.

Verdict: I loved making this in spite of struggling to make my blow-torch work, making frantic calls to 'S' as I tried to fill it with butane."Oh there is a hissing sound, I guess there is a leak" I yelled and in an attempt to turn it off I somehow managed to turn the flame on! Not wasting a minute, I quickly toasted the unbaked alaska and brought them back to life. It is a pretty straight forward challenge and easy if you make the components within a span of few days. Thanks again Elissa for hosting this month's challenge.