I think I felt really dreamy about the baked alaska cutting video I saw on Instagram, and decided to make my own baked alaska.

We make a lot of cold desserts during summer. Since we bought an ice cream maker, home-made ice cream has become one of the freezer treats, along with my kids’ ultimate favourite strawberry sorbet.

But this baked alaska here is an easy peasy one to make. Doesn’t require an ice cream maker. I didn’t go all the way to make my own ice cream from scratch. But I also didn’t buy three boxes of ice cream in different flavours, because I hate having three big ice cream boxes of just a little ice cream left inside taken up most of my freezer space. So I just bought vanilla ice cream, add fresh strawberries and mangoes to make different flavours. And it totally worked!

According to my kids, the best part of baked alaska is the toasted meringue. And I agree. The meringue frosting doesn’t harden in the freezer. Each bite of this dessert has a little chocolate cake, fruity ice cream and marshmallowy meringue. And you know what, you can make this cake well ahead. The toasted meringue keeps really well in the freezer, even for several days.

Ingredients (one 8-inch cake): 
Chocolate Cake Base
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
Ice Cream
9 cups vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup strawberry puree
1/2 cup mango puree
Meringue Frosting
1/4 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water

Directions:
To prepare the cake, preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Crack in the egg, spoon in the sour cream, and pour in the oil and the vanilla. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
Pour in the boiling water, and slowly mix until smooth and liquidy.
Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Place the cakes (in the pans) on a wire rack to cool. Then invert the cakes onto a greased rack. Cool completely. Then slice cake layers in half horizontally. Reserve one layer for future use.
To prepare ice cream, let ice cream sit in room temperature for 10 minutes to soften. Scoop 3 cups of vanilla ice cream, and mix in with the strawberry puree to make strawberry ice cream. Add mango puree in another 3 cups of vanilla ice cream to make mango ice cream.
To assemble, lightly grease a 3-quart bowl and line with plastic wrap with overhang long enough to cover the top. Fill the base of the bowl with strawberry ice cream, followed by mango ice cream and the remaining vanilla ice cream. (if ice cream becomes too soft, chill each layer in the freezer for 10 minutes before adding another layer)
Top the ice cream with the chocolate layer cake. Cover the cake with plastic wrap overhang. Return it to the freezer and freeze at least 4 hours.
To prepare frosting, combine sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on high speed until foamy for 1 minute. Set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Beat on high speed until the mixture is hot to touch. Remove from heat, continue beating meringue until it becomes stiff and glossy.
Remove the ice cream cake from the freezer. Invert the cake onto a serving plate and wrap a hot kitchen towel around the bowl for 20 seconds. Loosen the bowl and remove the plastic wrap.
Smear the meringue frosting thickly on the top and sides of the cake. Using a small metal spatula to create swoops and peaks.
Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the frosting. Serve right away.