Christmas Cake Baked Alaska recipe

PUBLISHED: 11:39 22 December 2014 | UPDATED: 13:48 25 March 2015

Archant

There's something magical about baked Alaska; seeing the snowy mounds come out of the oven, then discovering the frozen ice cream within. The trick is to pre-scoop the ice cream, then re-freeze the balls so that they're very cold and hard before you start. You can also make this post-Christmas with leftover Christmas pudding, if there is such a thing in your house.

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 500ml pot salted caramel ice cream

• 6 x 1cm slices fruit cake

• 240g caster sugar

• 4 large egg whites

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Method

1 Leave the ice cream to soften a little, then scoop 6 balls onto a baking tray. Transfer the tray to the freezer and freeze until very hard.

2 Cut each slice of cake into a square or a circle and lay them on a baking tray.

3 Preheat the oven to 200c (180c fan) / gas 6. Line a roasting tin with greaseproof paper and spread the sugar out on top. Transfer the tray to the oven for 8 minutes to heat the sugar.

4 When the sugar has been heating for 5 minutes, put the egg whites in a free-standing food mixer and use the whisk attachment to whip them until foamy. With the whisk still running, pour in the hot sugar in a steady stream.

5 Whisk the meringue on high speed for 10 minutes or until it has cooled to room temperature. Increase the oven temperature to 220c (200c fan) / gas 8.

6 Remove the ice cream balls from the freezer and sit each one on top of a slice of cake. Use a palette knife to completely enclose the ice cream and sides of the cake in a thick layer of meringue.

7 Transfer the tray to the oven and bake for 3 – 4 minutes to toast the outside of the meringue. Serve immediately.

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Find it in Hampshire

• Double cream - Blackburn & Haynes, Bordon, 01428 712155

• Eggs - Claytons Eggs Romsey, 01794 513242, claytonseggshampshire.co.uk

• Salted caramel ice cream, Jude’s Winchester, 01962 711444, judes.co.uk

• Fruit cake, Cakes by Juliet Hamble, 07970 781320, cakesbyjuliet.co.uk

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