Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli's Store-Bought Ingredient Hack Makes This Show-Stopping Dessert Recipe an Easy No-Brainer
Dessert indecision is a real thing. Do you want ice cream or cake, cookies or pie? Well, why not a combination of all of it! Baked Alaska is one of those rare desserts that incorporates, cake, ice cream, and a whipped meringue topping for a treat that is decadent and perfect for summer. And now, Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli has an easy hack using a store-bought ingredient to make it even easier!
“We’re gonna build what I call Bake or No-Bake Alaska,” Guarnaschelli says in a video on Food Network’s YouTube Channel. “I’m gonna bake the cake base, or you can buy a store-bought cake and have it be a No-Bake Alaska,” she says.
Imagine skipping the whole baking part to get this sweet treat? It sounds perfect — especially if you don’t like turning on the oven in the middle of summer!
If you do want to make the cake, she gives step-by-step directions on how to do so, which includes mixing butter, sugar, vanilla, chocolate chips, and other ingredients. Then, bake it in a loaf pan and let it cool for an hour before assembling the Alaskas.
If you bought a store-bought chocolate-chip cake, skip ahead to the next part. You’ll need to cut one-inch slices of cake, then use a round-cutter to get two-inch rounds. “It’s like chocolate chip cookie in cake form,” she says as she demonstrates.
From there, Guarnaschelli scoops strawberry ice cream onto the cookie rounds and lines them up on the tray. They go straight to the freeze for at least four hours (and up to 12 hours) before they’re ready for the meringue, which she calls “the glue of the dessert.”
Mix egg whites, sugar, and another ingredient in an electric mixer or hand beater until the mixture is whipped into stiff peaks. Put it in a pastry bag and pipe meringue around each ice cream ball. To get extra fancy, Guarnaschelli covers the entire dessert in meringue and uses a kitchen blow torch to gently brown the meringe.
“You make this, this is a knockout,” Guarnaschelli praises the finished dessert, which she serves with sliced strawberries. “Toasty, goopy, frozen cake,” she says after taking a bite. “This is the pinball that just hits every part of the machine.” In other words, it’s good good!
People were loving this video, which has over 250 thumbs ups. One commenter even shared a suggestion: “That is such a cute idea. You almost could use a cookie or a Ding dong with ice cream and egg whites. The possibilities are endless. Really good dessert. ❤️”
Mmm! It all sounds so good, and we love how Guarnaschelli gave us the option to bring a store-bought cake into the recipe to save time and make it that much easier to prepare. We’re definitely saving this delicious recipe!
Get Guarnaschelli’s full Baked or No-Baked Alaska recipe HERE.
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