Baked Alaska
| Baked Alaska | |
|---|---|
| Dessert | |
 Banana Baked Alaska | |
| Alternative name(s): | |
| Glace au four, omelette à la norvégienne, Norwegian omelette, omelette surprise | |
| Place of origin: | |
| France or United States or China | |
| Region or state: | |
| Paris or New York | |
| Main ingredient(s): | |
| Meringue, pistachio ice cream, sponge cake or Christmas pudding | |
| Variations: | |
| Bombe Alaska | |
| Recipes at Wikibooks: | |
 Baked Alaska | |
| Media at Wikimedia Commons: | |
 Baked Alaska |
Baked Alaska (also known as glace au four, omelette à la norvégienne, Norwegian omelette and omelette surprise) is a dessert food consisting of ice cream and cake topped with browned meringue.
Preparation
The dish is made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding and topped with meringue. The entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot oven for a brief time, long enough to firm the meringue.[1] The meringue is an effective insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from getting through to the ice cream.
The name 'Baked Alaska' was coined at Delmonico's Restaurant by their chef-de-cuisine Charles Ranhofer in 1876 to honor the recently acquired American territory.[1] Both the name 'Baked Alaska' and 'omelette à la norvégienne'/'Norwegian omelette' come from the low temperatures of Alaska and Norway.[2]
February 1 is Baked Alaska Day in the United States.[3]
Variations
A variation called Bombe Alaska calls for some dark rum to be splashed over the Baked Alaska. Lights are then turned down and the whole dessert is flambéed while being served.[4]
The process was simplified in 1974 by Jacqueline Halliday Diaz who invented a baking pan for Baked Alaska called Cūlinique that forms a fillable hollow in the cake that may be filled with ice cream.
In 1969, the recently invented microwave oven enabled Hungarian physicist and molecular gastronomist Nicholas Kurti to produce a reverse Baked Alaska (also called a "Frozen Florida")—a frozen shell of meringue filled with hot liquor.[5]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Baked Alaska
- ↑ Ayto, John. The glutton's glossary:a dictionary of food and drink terms. ISBN 978-0-415-02647-5.
- ↑ Statesymbolsusa.org
- ↑ "Bombe Alaska". Burke's Backyard. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ↑ Khymos.org
References
- "Baked Alaska" An A–Z of Food and Drink. Ed. John Ayto. Oxford University Press, 2002. Oxford Reference Online. Miami University, Ohio. 20 February 2006
- Olver, Lynne. "Baked Alaska" The food timeline.