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Spanish Baked Alaska

6 people
Easy

Prep time
1hr

Cook time
30 mins

Total time
1hr 30 mins

Javier De La Hormaza

Recipe provided by

Javier De La Hormaza

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Ingredients

For the turrón ice cream:
150g soft turrón de jijona, broken into small pieces
300ml fresh whole milk
300ml double cream
250g caster sugar
6 egg yolks
For the Santiago cake:
250g ground almonds
250g caster sugar
5 large eggs
Zest of half a lemon
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Butter for greasing the mould
For the Italian meringue:
3 eggs white
170g caster sugar
4 tbsp water

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Introduction

A twist on the classic baked Alaska recipe using Spanish inspired ingredients. This retro baked Alaska contains a base of Santiago cake made with ground almonds, lemon peel and cinnamon, topped with super creamy turrón de jijona ice cream before covering it in silky Italian meringue. The ultimate showstopper dessert for any special occasion!

Method

Start by making the turrón ice cream. In a medium size saucepan, gently heat the milk and cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the turrón and whisk vigorously until fully blended. Remove from the heat and cover with cling film. Allow the mix to infuse for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick. Return the turrón cream to the heat, bring to the boil, remove from the heat and pour into the egg mixture and mix well. Return the mix to the pan and with a wooden spoon stir constantly on a gentle heat without allowing the mixture to boil until you get a thick custard. It should have the consistency of single cream. It takes about 5 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool down, mix well and pour into the ice cream maker churning the mix for around 20 minutes or following the guidelines of your ice cream maker before storing in the freezer. The day before you are serving your baked Alaska, make your six ice cream balls with the help of an ice cream scoop and store in the freezer to harden.
For the Santiago cake, pre-heat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. In a large mixing bowl, place the ground almonds, caster sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest and pour the eggs in, mix with a fork or whisk. Grease with butter a non-stick spring form cake tin of around 28cm in diameter. Pour the almond mix into the cake tin and bake for 30 minutes or until the top of the cake is lightly brown and the cake is firm when pressing with the finger. Once the cake is cooled down, use a 7cm round pastry cutter to cut six discs out of the cake.
For the Italian meringue, whisk the egg whites using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, until they form stiff peaks. Place the sugar into a small pan with the water and put over a low-medium heat, swirling the pan gently until the sugar is dissolved. Make sure your brush the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to avoid any sugar from crystalising. Turn up the heat and simmer until it reads 120°C on a sugar thermometer. Remove the syrup from the heat and turn on the whisk. Slowly and steadily pour the hot syrup into the bowl, avoiding pouring directly onto the whisk beater. Once all of the syrup has been incorporated, continue to whisk the mixture for 2-3 minutes until thick and shiny. Place the Italian meringue in a piping bag with a small straight nozzle and set aside.
To build each baked alaska, place the Santiago cake discs onto each serving plate. Place a ball of the ice cream in the middle of each cake. Pipe the meringue all around the outside of the ice cream and cake base. Use a blow torch to evenly brown the outside of the meringue for a caramelised marshmallow finish and serve.