The magic of baked Alaska

The last plate of the chef’s tasting menu has been cleared. The highly anticipated dessert arrives. It’s a plate that has a golden-hued, scorched tower of meringue, forming a perfect insulator to the creamy ice cream underneath, resting on a light and delicate sponge and served with a touch of crunch and smear of tangy apricot. This is baked Alaska.

It was Chef Charles Ranhofer of Delmonico’s in New York, who in the late 1860s was among the first to introduce baked Alaska in the United States. The name for his version, Alaska/ Florida, paid homage to the temperature extremes found in the U.S.’s then-newly acquired frozen tundra and the tropical landscape of Florida. But the concept of the dessert started long before Chef Ranhofer’s rendition.

Historians suggest that the history of baked Alaska begins with noted American physicist Benjamin Thompson Rumford , who in 1804 discovered the insulation properties of meringue and developed his “omelette surprise”— ice cream encased in a baked, sugary shell. Countless others lay claim to inspiring the modern makings of the dessert, including famed French/ British Chef Alexis Soyer, who in 1846

ACF Chef Glenn

combined meringue with ice cream at a dinner for Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. French food writer Baron Leon Brise , who in 1866 suggested in his weekly newspaper column that the creation of the dessert was introduced into the country by a French Chef at the Grand Hotel in Paris named Balzac , who learned the technique of “baking ginger and vanilla ices in the oven” from visiting Chinese chefs. Recipes featuring various fruits and creams encased in meringue can be found in numerous cookbooks, including Aunt Mary’s 1855 cookbook “The Philadelphia Housewife” and “The Original Fannie Farmer Cookbook,” published in 1896.

Although some food historians contend Chef Ranhofer’s version featured a walnut spice sponge, according to page 1,007 of his tome, “The Epicurean,” the reader is instructed “to prepare a very fine-vanilla flavored Savoy biscuit paste.” It is then baked in single-serving rounds, hollowed out, flavored with apricot marmalade and filled with a tapered cylindrical mold of banana and vanilla ice creams. Once the molds are frozen, “unmold and lay them in the hollow of the prepared biscuits; keep in a freezing box or cave,” the recipe instructs. The biscuit-ice cream combination is then to be covered in meringue and “pushed through a pocket furnished with a channeled socket and colored in a hot oven for two minutes.” In my personal renditions of baked Alaska, I like to use a wood-burning oven to “color,” or brown, both single servings and larger-scale, party-friendly renditions of the dessert.

Modern Baked Alaska with Japonaise, Citrus Biscuit, Creamy Caramelized Banana and Milk Chocolate Ganache, Banana and Nougatine Ice Cream and Swiss Meringue For the full recipe, visit acfchefs.org.

VISIT ACF CHEF GLENN

RINSKY’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL, GRAND CUISINE!, WHERE HE EXPLORES THE ORIGIN OF BAKED ALASKA AND PREPARES IT AS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED IN THE CAVERNOUS KITCHEN OF DELMONICO’S, ACCORDING TO CHEF RANHOFER’S RECIPE FROM HIS CULINARY TOME, “THE EPICUREAN.”

For my updated rendition (see recipe below), I also start with a Japonaise base that’s topped with a citrus-based savoy biscuit and a creamy and caramelized banana and milk chocolate ganache. I then encase the ice cream with a Swiss-style meringue, studded with an almond nougatine to increase the crunch and wow factor. For this method, I use a blow torch to “color” and lightly brown the shell, which is then served with a mango sauce and more crumbled nougatine garnish. Timeless and stunning, classical or modern, baked Alaska shows the versatility of the pastry chef and gives diners the exciting combination of hot and cold in one bite.