A seemingly magical dessert that is really a tasty scientific experiment! A Baked Alaska ice cream cake that is then set on fire with rum or another liquor. In this guide, we’ll show you how we make our Bombe Alaska recipe from start to finish.
4lbsice cream or gelato2-3 flavors for multiple layers
rumor another similar liquor—for setting the Bombe Alaska on fire!
Swiss MeringueSEE BELOW
Swiss Meringue
12egg whites
2 ¼cupswhite granulated sugar
1tspvanilla extractor ½ vanilla bean
¾tspcream of tartar
Instructions
Bake (or Buy) the Cake
Bake (or buy) a 8-9" (22 cm) round cake of your choice! We chose to bake a half portion of our Dark Chocolate Chiffon Cake recipe: https://youtu.be/iVyxNxQGGWEThe baked cake should be at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. Cool it before using it in this recipe.
1 baked cake (your choice!)
Make the Ice Cream Cake
Choose a mixing bowl with a mouth just a bit smaller than size of your baked cake. Cover the entire inside of the bowl with plastic wrap. It’s critical that you cover the entire inside of your bowl with plastic wrap and let it hang over the sides. Otherwise, we have no chance of getting our ice cream mold out of the bowl!
4 lbs ice cream or gelato
Add the first layer of softened ice cream or gelato. If you have 2 flavors, you'll be adding two layers. If you have 3 flavors, make 3 layers. For the best definition between layers, freeze the ice cream for about 2 hours between each layer before adding the next layer.
Top the final layer of ice cream or gelato with the cooled, baked cake. When we turn the frozen cake upside down, this cake will form the base of our ice cream cake!
We recommend loosely wrapping the cake against the ice cream with plastic wrap to keep everything together. Freeze the ice cream cake for at least 3 hours or even overnight.
Make the Swiss Meringue
Separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs. We only need the whites for this recipe.
12 egg whites
Add the whites and granulated sugar to a bowl sitting over a pot of gently simmering water. This is called a double boiler and it allows us to use indirect heat to gently heat our sugar and egg whites.
2 ¼ cups white granulated sugar
Combine the granulated sugar with the egg whites. Warm the mixture over a gently simmering double boiler to dissolve the granulated sugar into egg whites. Whisk frequently.
At first the eggs and sugar will be dense and hard to whisk. Then, the sugar will dissolve and the mixture will be thin and easy to whisk. Finally, the eggs will begin to froth. At this point we need to watch our temperature very closely, whisking continuously.
When you reach 160° F (71° C), continue cooking and whisking the eggs for 15 seconds. This will ensure we kill bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the warm egg whites on high speed for about 5 minutes. Halfway through the mixing, add cream of tartar for extra stability and a half a vanilla bean for extra flavor.
1 tsp vanilla extract, ¾ tsp cream of tartar
Whip until you have firm to stiff peaks (5 minutes is just an estimate).
Cover the Ice Cream Cake with Swiss Meringue
Assemble the Bombe Alaska on a heat-safe baking tray. To do this:Turn the frozen cake upside down on a heat-safe baking tray. Remove the bowl. It’s likely that the bowl will not immediately come off. If this happens, take a kitchen blow torch to the sides until it loosens. Or, set the bowl in some warm water until the bowl can be removed.
Remove the plastic wrap from the frozen cake.
Quickly cover the entire cake with the Swiss Meringue. Use a frosting spatula or similar to cover the entire cake with meringue that is about 1” (2.5 cm) thick.
If you want to pipe on a decoration for your Bombe Alaska, transfer some of the Swiss Meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip. In this case, you can spread the initial layer of Swiss Meringue on a bit thinner and pipe on some decoration to thicken the layer of Meringue. The important thing is that the cake is covered with about 1" of insulation (meringue).
Bake the Bombe Alaska
Bake at 465° F (240° C) for 5 minutes. At this point, the top of the cake will look toasted on the outside and you can add some color to the bottom with the blow torch.
Flambé the Bombe Alaska!
Spray (or sprinkle) a small amount of rum on the outside of the cake. Add a small amount of liquor to a heat safe glass Pyrex measuring cup as well. Finally—using a long utility lighter—you can set the rum in the pyrex on fire and poured that rum on fire over our Baked Alaska!
rum
All this heat will probably not be enough to warm the ice cream cake enough to cut. Let it set out to warm until you can cut it with a knife. Pretty cool, huh?
Video
Notes
Tips?Read the guide above or watch the video recipe. There are too many tips to summarize here—including how to separate and easily whip egg whites!Choose a Reasonably Dense CakeThe cake forms the base for our Bombe Alaska and needs to support frozen ice cream. A chiffon cake works fine as would other denser cake recipes. Don't use an Angel Food Cake or pan di spagna cake for this recipe—they are too light to support the ice cream. Let Ice Cream or Gelato Soften Before Using ItThe ice cream / gelato should be soft enough to easily spoon and spread, so remove the flavor you are working with from the freezer a bit before trying to add it to the bowl.What's a Double Boiler?A double boiler can be made with any mixing bowl that fits inside or over a sauce pan. Add about an inch of water to the bottom of the sauce pan.In this case, the sauce pan should be big enough to hold the bowl with the egg whites and allow the bottom of that bowl to just touch the water or be suspended above it. We want the water to be simmering very gently to give us the indirect heat we need to warm our sugar and eggs.Get Creative with FlavorsThis is a fun dessert to make your own by choosing flavors that you love and want to try together. The original Baked Alaska was rumored to be made with banana ice cream and a walnut cake base. Prep Time Doesn't Include Baking CakeSince we aren't sure what kind of cake you'll choose to make (or buy), we haven't included that in the prep time.