I was at The Art of Living Foundation visiting my friend. There is a stall near the entrance gate which sells various things. While, I jumped at the Aloe Vera sapling almost immediately, bought it. As my eyes veered across I saw a packet of rose petals, hmm I thought to myself ” I could make something “, I bought the organic rose petals too. Some days later, viola – Baked Alaska.
You will need:
Ginger syrup sponge
Strawberry ice-cream
Rose ice-cream
Italian meringue
ginger syrup sponge
- 112g golden syrup
- 50g butter
- 50g caster sugar
- 37 g preserved stem ginger
- 100 ml milk
- 1 eggs, beaten
- 112 g self-raising flour
- 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon+clove
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Line the base of a loaf tin with baking parchment.
I added a third of black treacle too.
Place the golden syrup, butter and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a medium-low heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth
Set aside and allow to cool, then mix in the ginger, milk and eggs. Sift the remaining ingredients into a large bowl.
Make a well in the centre, then pour in the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly so that you get a runny mixture.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and drizzle or brush the reserved stem ginger syrup over the loaf while it’s still hot.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then carefully lift the cake out with the lining paper and place on a wire rack. Peel away the baking parchment and leave to cool down completely.
Strawberry ice-cream
Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
3/8 cup granulated sugar
Table salt
5 large egg yolks
300-500 g fresh or frozen strawberries
I added some frozen raspberries too, just for kicks.
Clean and roughly chop the strawberries, put them into a bowl and sprinkle over the 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and leave them to steep and infuse with flavour.
Pour the milk and cream into a heavy-based saucepan, and add the vanilla pod, split down the middle lengthways. Bring the pan nearly to the boil and then take it off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and the 3/8 cup sugar until thick and pale yellow. Take the vanilla pod out of the milk and cream and pour, whisking the while, the warm liquid over the yolks. Put the cleaned-out pan back on the heat with the cream, milk, egg and sugar mixture and stir the custard until it thickens, then take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl to cool.
Puree the strawberries in a processor, and when the custard is cool fold in the lemon juice and strawberry puree. Whip it out every hour for 3 hours as it freezes and give it a good beating in the processor. That gets rid of any ice crystals that form and that make the ice cream crunchy rather than smooth.
rose ice-cream
Recipe adapted from thirtymarensagree.com
Ingredients
1 cups whole milk
1 cups heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rose water
3 Tablespoons rose petal jam (homemade)
Bought pectin from cake and baking institute. This is the jam I made
Heat the cream and milk over medium heat, stirring, for 8-10 minutes. In a bowl, mix together the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and rose water. Add 1/4 cup of the hot milk to the eggs, stirring as you pour so the eggs won’t curdle when heated.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and slowly pour the egg mixture into the saucepan while stirring. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thicken a little.
Remove from heat and stir in the jam and huckleberry syrup (if you found some please let me know) until all melted and blended. Cool completely either in an ice bath or the fridge overnight.
Whip it out every hour for 3 hours like the strawberry ice cream.
Italian meringue
120 g caster sugar
2 large free range egg whites
Lemon Juice
To make the meringue put the sugar and 2 tbsp water into a medium heavy-based saucepan and dissolve over a medium heat, stirring once or twice. When the liquid is clear, increase the heat and boil for three minutes. (Or the liquid registers 120C on a sugar thermometer).
In the meantime, whisk the egg whites with a squeeze of lemon juice in a clean, grease-free bowl, using a hand held electric whisk , until they form soft peaks.
With the beaters still whirling, slowly pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl and continue beating on full speed for 10 minutes to a firm, glossy meringue. Set to one side.
ASSEMBLE!
Take 2 ramekins, line them with cling film and spoon the 2 ice creams and freeze them
Cut out discs (same size as the ramekins) from the ginger loaf. Place 1 disc on a tray, place the rose ice cream on the disc. Add some toasted pistachios. Place the strawberry ice cream on top, then top with a plain sponge disc.
Quickly cover the top and sides with the meringue, swirling it attractively. Repeat to finish the rest of the Alaskas, then place, uncovered in the freezer until ready to serve.
Place each Alaska on a serving plate and wave a cook’s blow-torch lightly and quickly over each meringue to colour. This only takes seconds – take care to avoid over-scorching. Serve at once.
I also made a dome, in which I had less rose ice cream , so its wasn’t well-balanced. Anyway here are the pictures.
figbruleeGirl 