By Gabrielle Hamilton
Updated Oct. 2, 2023
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes, plus 8 hours cooling and freezing
- Rating
- 4(217)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Baked alaska is a real toil, no doubt — you have to attend to the cake, the ice cream and the meringue, in the same way a mason lays stone. But there is plenty of opportunity for fun and flourish once the foundation is secure: You can divide the meringue among several pastry bags with varying sized tips to make dramatic and interesting variegated patterns of piped meringue. You can play with the shape of the cake by freezing the semifreddo in a coffee drip cone or a large-format flexible ice cube tray. And when you toast the meringue with a kitchen torch, you can hold the flame near and far, lingering in spots and moving briskly in others, to create extra drama and eye appeal. Try spooning flaming kirsch down its slopes. If you want to go even further, try replacing the white sugar with brown sugar in the meringue for a sophisticated pale-beige meringue that contrasts beautifully when toasted just to golden. Or see what you think of the results using other decorative colored sugars — keeping in mind, though, that after all that work down on your knees laying stone, you want to look up at a cathedral, not Fudgie the Whale!
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Ingredients
Yield:16 servings
- 10 ½tablespoons (150 grams) butter
- 150grams egg whites (from about 5 large eggs), room temperature
- ⅛cup (25 grams) whole almonds, toasted, cooled, then finely ground
- ½cup (80 grams) whole pistachios, toasted, cooled, then finely ground
- 1½cups (160 grams) powdered sugar
- Pinch salt
- ⅓cup plus 1 tablespoon (50 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1½teaspoons (10 grams) unsweetened pistachio paste
- 1cup (198 grams) sugar
- ½cup plus 1 tablespoon (133 milliliters) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2tablespoons (30 milliliters) water
- 6large egg yolks
- Zest of 3 lemons
- ½teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½cups (355 milliliters) heavy cream
- 2cups (396 grams) sugar
- 1cup (245 grams) egg whites, room temperature
For the Pistachio Cake
For the Lemon Semifreddo
For the Meringue
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
429 calories; 21 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 57 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 49 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 62 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Make the Pistachio Cake
Step
1
Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter is a toasty brown color and smells nutty. Pour butter into a heatproof bowl; let cool to room temperature.
Step
2
Heat the oven to 350. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, and coat with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
Step
3
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites until tripled in volume. Whites should look like shaving cream and hold a stiff peak.
Step
4
On slow setting, whisk in the toasted almonds, pistachios, sugar, salt and flour. Whisk in the pistachio paste until fully incorporated, then the browned butter.
Step
5
Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake until set, 20 to 25 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely, then remove it from the pan.
Make the Lemon Semifreddo
Step
6
Line a small metal 5- to 6-cup-capacity bowl with plastic wrap; set aside.
Step
7
In a small, clean and dry nonreactive saucepan, combine sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and the water. Let liquid saturate the sugar before setting on heat. Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches 250 degrees — hard-ball stage on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes. Do not stir or swirl the sugar. Cover with a tightfitting lid for a few seconds to create moisture, if needed.
Step
8
Whisk egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed until they are thick and pale in color, about 5 minutes.
Step
9
When the sugar reaches 250 degrees, remove it from the heat. With the mixer on low speed, carefully pour the sugar into the yolks, taking care to pour down the inside of the bowl so that the sugar doesn’t hit the moving whisk and spin into a mess of threads. Whisk until fully incorporated.
Step
10
Add the zest, vanilla and remaining lemon juice, and increase the speed to medium. Continue to beat until the mixture is completely cool; transfer to a large bowl.
Step
11
Wipe out the mixing bowl, then whisk the heavy cream until it holds stiff peaks. Gently mix the whipped cream into the lemon-sugar mixture until fully incorporated.
Step
12
Pour the mixture into the prepared bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.
Make the Meringue
Step
13
Bring a full inch of water to a boil in a wide pot. In a bowl large enough to sit on top of the pot without touching the water, combine the sugar and egg whites. Place the bowl over the pot of boiling water, and whisk until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Run your finger across the bottom of the mixture to be sure there are no grains of undissolved sugar.
Step
14
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk on high speed until the meringue is glossy and holds stiff peaks and is no longer warm at all, about 7 minutes.
Step
15
Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
To Assemble the Baked Alaska
Step
16
Cut a 6-inch round from the cake.
Step
17
Remove the semifreddo from the mold, and invert on top of the cake, creating a dome.
Step
18
Working from the bottom of the cake, pipe the meringue around the entire dome.
Step
19
Freeze until ready to serve.
Step
20
Using a kitchen torch, brown the meringue all over until toasty.
Ratings
4
out of 5
217
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Cooking Notes
India
I've been making Baked Alaska in various ways for at least 50 years. This recipe is the most labor-intensive I've ever seen! It is really quite easy to make, requiring only a 1 round layer yellow cake, multiple flavors of ice cream (it should include pistachio), and Italian meringue. It's great for a dinner party as one can keep individually wrapped layers of cake in the freezer, and the day before, put layers of multiple ice cream flavors in a mixing bowl and freeze.
Robert Wemischner
Love Gabrielle's writing and cooking; just beg to differ with her description of the meringue as Italian meringue; in fact, it is Swiss meringue; true Italian meringue calls for a hot sugar syrup that is streamed into the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and then beaten until cool, fluffy and thick. Minor quibble but in the interest of accuracy I thought I would comment.Robert WemischnerInstructor, Professional BakingLos Angeles Trade Technical College
Kate
The piece accompanying this is one of the best articles on food I have ever read. Love her voice!
Susan
Another delicious option is to use a brownie recipe for the bottom layer. Forget the torch! Just put the whole frozen thing under the broiler for a few minutes. The meringue insulates the ice cream, which doesn't melt, and it gets nice and toasty brown, not burnt.
SharonATX
Would that we were all sous chefs at Prune! Tips for my fellow Plebs:-Don't brown the butter and toast the nuts. Do one or the other.-A "5- to 6-cup-capacity bowl" will likely have a far bigger diameter than 6".-It took far less time for the sugar to hit the hard ball stage.--Way too much meringue! (Though it is stickily heavenly.)-If you do use Kirsch to set it on fire, as suggested, you need to warm it on the stove first. Fun!-Lots of work, but it is a showstopper.
Sarah
Do not make this meringue without a stand mixer. I tried to use a hand mixer and it wasn’t strong enough to finish the job, leading to a sloppy mess.
Helaine
There are certainly easier ways to make this, but if we always stick to the easy things we know we never grow.
Gsaas
@india...could we have you recipe?
Catherine
Got rave reviews!I browned the butter but did not toast the nuts. Substituted additional pistachio, 1/2 T olive oil and 1/2 T almond paste for the pistachio paste. Would recommend stirring the semifreddo part way through freezing as it seemed to settle. Used 1/2 batch of the meringue (3 egg whites) but will probably use 3/4 batch next time. Piping the meringue is not necessary, but do attempt to create texture with whatever utensil you use. Cutting the cake is also not necessary.
Lisa
Would be fun to make for a birthday sometime - but a LOT of work! This note from a cook might be helpful:
Bim
Fire is dangerous, you can use a oven insted
Terrill
My Granny made me a baked Alaska for my 6th birthday and it blew my mind…I’m so glad to see this recipe!
AB
The lemon semifreddo dessert at Gabrielle Hamilton's restaurant is one of the most insanely delicious things I've ever put in my mouth and I thought I would never eat it again w the closure of Prune...I just made the semifreddo part of this recipe and drizzled it with olive oil and crunchy Maldon sea salt like they do at Prune...it is a glorious home run of a dessert! Do yourself a favor and try it (and double the recipe to freeze some to save)!
Jacquie
The lemon semifreddo was delicious, as was the meringue but next time we will use a sponge cake. The pistachio was delicious but too heavy. The meringue finally came together after close to 45 minutes with the hand mixer and the end result was completely gorgeous. I thought it was rounding up to say it serves 16 but it definitely does.
tiger squeakily, jr.
How do you set it on fire?
Euphemia Thompson
Ms. Hamilton describes that in the text before the recipe
Annie
Perhaps concentrate and reduce the lemon juice. So much liquid makes the semifreddo a bit runny prior to freezing. Also, add the pistachio paste to the browned butter and combine then add to cake mix.
CW
I didn't have any issues with the semifreddo firming up. The lemon came through really well, very strong flavors. Lemon juice tends to be difficult to reduce as heat will affect it negatively.
Annie
I have just made this ahead for Xmas. I found that adding 1/2 cup lemon made the semifreddo very liquid. If making again I would concentrate and reduce it by half before adding it. This should also make it easier to incorporate into the whipped cream and produce a lighter semifreddo.
Reina
Which pistachio paste should I use? Anyone have a favorite brand or recipe?
CW
It seems they vary quite a bit, but I interpreted pistachio paste as pistachios + olive oil. So, I just increased the weight of ground pistachios accordingly and added 1/2T olive oil. Flavor came out really well
Rachel Wynia
This was quite a fun project and a big hit, taste-wise. It took me several days to get all the components made (mostly because I could only work during my kids' naptimes) but my family is already asking when I'll make it again. Probably not anytime soon due to the amount of work it takes, but it's definitely impressive to whip up for a holiday or gathering.
Susan
My mother used to make this for all of our holidays when I was growing up. She never had a torch so she just threw the whole meringued mountain under the broiler for a minute or two. The ice cream was insulated by the meringue and didn't melt, and we never complained. It always looked and tasted heavenly.
Sarah
Do not make this meringue without a stand mixer. I tried to use a hand mixer and it wasn’t strong enough to finish the job, leading to a sloppy mess.
SharonATX
Would that we were all sous chefs at Prune! Tips for my fellow Plebs:-Don't brown the butter and toast the nuts. Do one or the other.-A "5- to 6-cup-capacity bowl" will likely have a far bigger diameter than 6".-It took far less time for the sugar to hit the hard ball stage.--Way too much meringue! (Though it is stickily heavenly.)-If you do use Kirsch to set it on fire, as suggested, you need to warm it on the stove first. Fun!-Lots of work, but it is a showstopper.
Susan
Made this for New Year’s Eve. Was spectacular and delicious. I️ substituted the recipe from Bon Appetit for lemon semifreddo as I️ was convinced I️ wouldn’t be able to pour the sugar syrup into the bowl without hitting the whisk attachment and creating sugar threads. I️ used a 2 qt metal bowl with an 8” diameter so didn’t need to do the cutout from the cake. I️ found the cake to be somewhat heavy, next time will fold in the nuts and butter. Meringue recipe made way too much. I️ got 10 servings.
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