If you've never made Baked Alaska before, you're in for a treat: cake, ice cream, and toasted meringue coming together in a dessert that looks fancy enough to impress guests yet is surprisingly easy to pull off.

What is Baked Alaska?

Baked Alaska is essentially an ice cream cake covered with a toasted meringue. It was given this name by a chef at a New York restaurant in reference to the United States acquiring Alaska. 

This frozen treat looks complicated and it can be if you are making a special cake flavor or churning your own ice cream. But if you keep the cake a simple vanilla or chocolate cake and use store bought ice cream, it’s actually quite easy.

You can even skip the cake baking part of the recipe and use a store bought cake. Check the notes down in the recipe card for details.  

Ingredients needed for Baked Alaska (with chocolate cake base)

For the cake layer: Gather basic cake ingredients: all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, unsalted butter, and sugar. Since it is a chocolate cake, you will also need cocoa powder, sour cream (keeps it moist) and brewed coffee (enhances chocolate flavor)

For the Ice Cream Layer: Many baked Alaskas use three different flavors with contrasting colors. A classic contrasting combo would be vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. It’s really up to you! The total volume is about 2-3 pints of ice cream. It could be more depending on the shape of your mold. Keep reading to see how to plan.

For the Meringue: You will need egg whites and cream of tartar, which is a stabilizing agent to keep your meringue together. 

How to Make and Assemble a Baked Alaska

Plan Ahead:

Though it’s easy, a little planning is required. Baked Alaska is a frozen dessert and because the big wow factor is the toasted meringue top, you should plan to toast the top close to serving it.

Before starting, you also need to consider the shape of the cake. The shape of the cake will roughly look like the shape of the bowl used for freezing the ice cream. This is why the exact amount of ice cream can vary. I used two pints for an eight inch cake, giving me a satisfying ice cream to cake ratio. 

Here is how I checked and visualized it:

I used a round bowl for my ice cream mold and a round pan for my cake. And once filled with two pints, the diameter of the top of the ice cream was roughly the size of my cake pan. (You can check by filling the bowl with 2 pints of water first and checking the width at the point of the fill line) Keep in mind you can also make it square or rectangular! Be creative.

Prepare the Ice Cream and Make the Cake:

Once you have that figured out, you can fill your bowl or mold with ice cream. The ice cream should be slightly softened so it’s easy to scoop.  After lining with plastic for easy removal, fill the bowl with alternating scoops of the different flavors, trying not to leave air pockets.  Smooth it down with the back of a spatula. 

Let the ice cream harden in the freezer for at least two hours. It needs to be very firm! In the meantime, you can bake the cake and let it cool. 

Make the Meringue:

Whip egg whites with cream of tartar until it gets foamy. Then gradually add sugar while whipping on high speed. Whip until you have stiff peaks. 

Assemble:

Turn the hardened ice cream on top of your cake layer and cover the entire ice cream surface with the meringue. You can create swirl patterns with the back of a spoon or use a piping bag with a fancy tip to create patterns. 

Carefully un-mold the ice cream over your cake base and spread the meringue all over the ice cream, making sure it is completely covered. 

Torch or Bake:

Using a kitchen torch, toast the meringue, working quickly and applying evenly all over.

You can also place it under your oven broiler. Details are in the recipe card notes. 

How Does the Ice Cream Not Melt?

The ice cream will not melt in a baked Alaska because it is insulated by the meringue and the cake layer on the bottom. You must also make sure that the ice cream is completely solid before you assemble. This will also keep it from melting and causing the meringue to slide off.

Storing

To store baked Alaska after it’s been torched, wrap tightly in plastic or store in an airtight container for up to one month. You can also store it in the freezer before baking or torching for up to two days. Store it uncovered so you don’t ruin your meringue swirls or piping.