Black-and-White Baked Alaska

This is one of those desserts that now that I have made it, wonder how I have never had it before?  None of us had…and ALL of us loved it!  My family went so far as to say it might be the best thing we have made…wow!  How have we been missing out on this dessert haha.  They LOVED the crunchy marshmallow meringue…definitely the favorite part..although they just raved about the whole thing!  A keeper for sure!

Starting out on this one, I was pretty confident it would be a hit in our house since we are ice cream lovers. 🙂  I have to say, although a pretty simple dessert, this is not one you would just throw together.  It takes some planning.  I did love that once constructed, you could keep it in the freezer until ready to brown the meringue and serve.

I made it over the course of two days, starting with the cake/brownie base.  I opted to use a slightly larger springform pan rather than a slightly smaller one and I think the next time, I will use the smaller so all of it can be just a little bit thicker, especially the marshmallow meringue!  This cake was interesting…most would expect it was your typical brownie type batter but there was actually a few steps with separate mixtures to combine:

• -the egg yolk mixture
• -the beaten egg white mixture
• -the melted chocolate mixture
• -the butter and cocoa mixture

To say this recipe uses a lot of dishes, bowls, and utensils would be an understatement haha!  The second part that was interesting about the cake…was the intended outcome.  We are to expect the cake to rise, which is only temporary…within minutes of taking it out, the center will sink and we will have our perfect “bowl” for our ice cream.  It worked exactly as predicted..sinks and leaves you with a perfect brownie crust.  I found the cake too fragile to try and peal off the parchment right after cooling, so I waited until after the 4 hour freeze time and did not have any trouble.

After chilling, you fill the crust with whatever slightly melted ice cream you would like.  Super easy and then more chilling time.  The last step is making the marshmallow meringue.  Also, very easy, but takes about 15 minutes.  It is one of those times that I hear myself saying, I LOVE my stand mixer!!  Once complete, you simple cover your ice cream and either pop it in the oven to brown or put it in the freezer to use later.  I put it in the freezer and had no problem with it tasting fresh.

This dessert was a huge success…with requests to have it again coming as soon as we were finished.  I wonder which ice cream flavor we will try the next time 🙂

 

Cowgirl Cornmeal-Pecan Financiers

This recipe comes to us from a talented American in Paris known as “Cowgirl Chef”. She, along with the muffins have one foot in America and the other in France. We are told these financiers, or mini muffins are a perfect addition to a brunch and that the cornmeal’s sweetness is a great match for the ground toasted nuts and brown butter.

These were fairly easy to make.  I halved the recipe as I didn’t see a need for 48 mini muffins…although this would be a great recipe to take somewhere and share.  The only difficulty is finding time for the 4+ hours of chilling, although…we are told we can use the batter immediately but that it won’t have the great texture.  I made the batter one evening, and baked the next morning.  They did smell wonderful while baking!

These were an interesting taste.  Surprisingly, my son and I had the same reaction independent of each other.  At first we were thinking we didn’t quite care for them.  They are different…but we had both kept eating the muffin, and it grew on us.  Both of us decided we actually liked them and their unique flavor and texture.  I was surprised how much I could taste the cornmeal since I had only made a half batch, there was only 1/8 of a cup in the batter.  I mean pretty inconsequential compared to the ground pecans and also flour, sugar, and butter.  I would say this is another one of those awesome recipes that I probably wouldn’t have tried if it weren’t for this baking group and look what we found…a good one!

Cheers to great baking! 🙂