Individual Baked Alaskas

Individual Baked Alaskas are perfect  for an elegant summer dessert. This retro recipe took me to the lavish dinner parties in the 70’s.

Piping on the Meringue Recipe makes for an impressive mini dessert!

Individual Baked Alaskas 

My mom and her friends did not have the Internet, but they utilized bridge club, church functions and coffees to share the latest recipes. Our kitchen was full of cookbooks, recipe cards and newspaper clippings for inspiration. Hey, sounds like MY kitchen!  Some of their most gourmet dishes were created for an annual Progressive Dinner on New Year’s Eve.  

I could imagine them enjoying a slice of Baked Alaska around 11 PM, with champagne flowing, and lots of laughter and merriment. They would end their party just in time to trudge through the snow, singing old show tunes, till they reached an even bigger gala by the stroke of midnight. I thought some Individual Baked Alaskas could be fun to try.

How to Make a Baked Alaska Recipe

I’ve made Baked Alaska for my family before. In true “Berg” style, the base was always made of brownies, then topped with vanilla ice cream and meringue. This time, I created individual servings by placing rounds of pound cake in the bottom of 4-ounce ramekins, followed by a dome of strawberry ice cream, then a toasted meringue cloud atop the ice cream.

Katie and I had quite a discussion in front of the ice cream freezer at Target. She nixed any chocolate ice creams which would have been her father’s first choice, and we both knew he would not be a fan of the peppermint stick or mint chocolate chip that she’d prefer. We finally settled on strawberry, the perfect choice as we approached Valentine’s Day.

Steps for Making  Baked Alaska

For these individual baked Alaskas, I wasn’t thrilled with this pound cake recipe. It worked fine, but flavor-wise, it was not spectacular. I think a Sara Lee pound cake from your grocer’s freezer or a bakery version would work just as well.  

First, slice the cake to the thickness of your ramekins before cutting out rounds. Plus this saves a lot of time and dirty dishes. Then cut into rounds to fit into your ramekins. Note that other firm cakes or brownies would work well, too.

Next, form six domes of strawberry ice cream using a very small bowl as a mold. It should be the same diameter as your ramekins. The bowl was lined with plastic wrap for easy removal. 

Place the ice cream domes on a baking sheet and refreeze overnight. This minimizes melting when torching the meringue topping. Use your favorite ice cream flavor to make these baked Alaskas your own. To streamline the process, the can be done the day before you plan to serve these individual baked Alaskas.

The meringue can be piped with a star tip like in my top photo…or, even easier, just smooth it on with a spoon or small spatula and give it some character with a few swoops and swirls.

Garnishing with juicy, ripe strawberries provides another note of sophistication.

This mini individual baked Alaska recipe garnered hubby’s seal of approval, from the cake to the ice cream to the meringue. So if you’re in need of an elegant, impressive dessert, give these individual baked Alaskas one a try. You’ll love these frozen treats!

You may need these supplies to make this individual baked Alaskas recipe:

• 8 x8 Pan
• Round Cookie Cutters

More Frozen Desserts You’ll Love:

• Frozen Chocolate Mousse Cake
• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Pie
• Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Frozen Peanut Butter Pie
• S’mores Ice Cream Sundae
• Layered Ice Cream Cake
• Brownie Baked Alaska
• Frozen Chocolate Crepes
• More Dessert Recipes

Continue to Content

Print

The Recipe:

Individual Baked Alaskas

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Yield 6 servings

Baked Alaska in ramekins so everyone has their own dessert!

Ingredients

Pound Cake*:

• 2 sticks (1 cup butter, at room temperature)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

 

• 1 quart strawberry ice cream (amount will vary depending on how much ice cream you use)
• 6 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3/4 cups sugar
• Beautiful strawberries to garnish

Instructions

1. To make pound cake, line 8 x 8 inch pan with nonstick foil. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Beat the butter and vanilla extract with whisk attachment of electric mixer until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 10 more minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. On low, mix in flour and salt until just incorporated.
3. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 25-28 minutes or till toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack.
4. Set 6 1/2 cup capacity ramekins on counter. Find a round cookie cutter that will fit into center of ramekin. My 2 3/4 inch diameter cutter worked well.
5. When cool, cut circles of pound cake out with cookie cutter. Gauge the size by the size of your ramekins.Place cake into bottom of 6 ramekins...trim bottoms if necessary so cake does not come higher than the top of the ramekin. May use pieces of cake if needed to completely fill ramekins.
6. Place a scoop of ice cream on top of each piece of cake to form a dome. Refreeze cake and ice cream for at least an hour till ice cream is very hard. Alternatively, find a very small mixing bowl that, when is inverted, fits over cake , but is not wider than ramekin. Line bowl with plastic wrap and pack in ice cream. Wrap ice cream completely with plastic and place on a baking sheet. Repeat 5 more times and refreeze these ice cream domes at least one hour or overnight.
7. When almost ready to serve, start the meringue. Beat the egg whies and cream of tartar to soft peaks using whisk attachment of mixer. Slowly add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, while continuing to beat till meringue forms stiff peaks.
8. Place meringue in a piping bag fit with a star peak. Put ice cream domes on top of cakes if you prefroze your ice cream portions. Quickly pipe meringue over each ice cream topped cake. You may also just spread meringue over ice cream with a spatula and make peaks with the back of a spoon. Using a kitchen torch, brown the meringues and serve. You may also broil the meringues for about 2 minutes, but watch carefully so ice cream does not become too soft.
9. Makes 6.

Notes

*Store bought pound cake can be used

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 571Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 150mgSodium: 199mgCarbohydrates: 107gFiber: 2gSugar: 60gProtein: 13g

HOW MUCH DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest