Ice Cream

Baked Alaska Cups: Remaking a Classic 1950s Dessert

by liz · May 2, 2020

Baked Alaska Cups recipe — Photo by Meals.com

If you’re like me, you have nostalgic taste buds and you remember Baked Alaska being a fancy dessert your mom only made for special dinner parties. It went very well with an Old Fashioned cocktail, Beef Wellington and brightly colored polyester pantsuits. She probably learned how to make this dessert from her mom, who impressed her 1950s dinner guests even more than her daughter did.

This dessert is a version of ice cream cake that’s finished by flash-baking it in a very hot oven to brown the outside, keeping the inside frozen. It has Swiss and French origins, then migrated to America with several modifications, like replacing the outer pastry crust with whipped egg-whites with sugar — otherwise known as meringue. The dessert picked up its current name by a pastry chef in New York, who made it famous during the time the U.S. acquired the Alaska territory.

This Baked Alaska Cups recipe uses brownies for the cake portion, strawberry ice cream, then classic meringue in individual serving cups — canning jars work very well for this! And it’s easier than you think. You can make them ahead of time, then store the cups in the freezer until dessert time. Just pop them in a 500-degree oven for 2 minutes and your guests can enjoy their own retro-chic treat. (And don’t worry; canning jars were made to withstand extreme cold and heat, as well as going in between.) The combination of frozen ice cream and brownie with hot meringue is sublime.

Baked Alaska Cups from Meals.com

Ingredients for 6 servings:

Nonstick cooking spray
1 box (18.3 ounces) brownie mix or your favorite brownie recipe
3 cups Strawberry Ice Cream, slightly softened
3/4 cup pasteurized egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

PLACE six 8-ounce custard cups on baking sheet; set aside.

SPRAY 11 x 7-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; line pan with foil, allowing foil to hang over edges of pan. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

PREPARE brownie mix (or your favorite brownie recipe) according to package directions; spread in prepared pan. Bake according to package directions. Cool completely in pan; lift brownie from pan using foil overhang. Cut into six rounds with a 3-inch diameter cookie or biscuit cutter. (If you’re using canning jars, you can use the jar to cut the brownies to correct size: turn jar upside down, press into brownies, turn back over and press brownie down with spoon, as shown above).

PLACE each brownie round in the bottom of the custard cups. Top with ½ cup of slightly softened ice cream and smooth to sides of cup, as shown above. Place on baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

BEAT egg whites in an electric mixer with whisk attachment on medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar; continue to beat until soft peaks form, as shown above. Slowly add sugar and vanilla; continue beating until glossy peaks form.

REMOVE cups from freezer. Spoon the meringue evenly over the top of each cup (roughly ½-3/4 cup each), covering the top completely and swirling the meringue into a high dome, as shown above.

PREHEAT oven to 500° F.

BAKE for 2 minutes or until meringue is browned, as shown above. Serve immediately.

Baked Alaska Cups

Author: Meals.com

Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time: 15 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 6 servings

This Baked Alaska Cups recipe uses brownies for the cake portion, strawberry ice cream, then classic meringue in individual serving cups — canning jars work very well for this! And it's easier than you think. You can make them ahead of time, then store the cups in the freezer until dessert time. Just pop them in a 500-degree oven for 2 minutes and your guests can enjoy their own retro-chic treat. The combination of frozen ice cream and brownie with hot meringue is sublime.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1 box (18.3 ounces) brownie mix or your favorite brownie recipe
3 cups Strawberry Ice Cream, slightly softened
¾ cup pasteurized egg whites, at room temperature
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
⅔ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

PLACE six 8-ounce custard cups on baking sheet; set aside.
SPRAY 11 x 7-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; line pan with foil, allowing foil to hang over edges of pan. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.
PREPARE brownie mix according to package directions; spread in prepared pan. Bake according to package directions. Cool completely in pan; lift brownie from pan using foil overhang. Cut into six rounds with a 3-inch diameter cookie or biscuit cutter.
PLACE each brownie round in the bottom of the custard cups. Top with ½ cup of slightly softened ice cream and smooth to sides of cup. Place on baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
BEAT egg whites in an electric mixer with whisk attachment on medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar; continue to beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and vanilla extract; continue beating until glossy peaks form.
REMOVE cups from freezer. Spoon the meringue evenly over the top of each cup (roughly ½-3/4 cup each), covering the top completely and swirling the meringue into a high dome.
PREHEAT oven to 500° F.
BAKE for 2 minutes or until meringue is browned. Serve immediately.

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Homemade Eggnog Ice Cream

by liz · Dec 11, 2018

One thing I’ve learned through my attempts to cook from scratch is that I now love foods I used to hate. Asparagus, eggplant, brussels sprouts and bone marrow are just a few items on the long list of foods that taste better made by me. Another one is eggnog.

I’d only ever had pre-made store-bought eggnog before, and it was so thick with a strong and manufactured, sweet, eggy flavor. It tasted too-strong and fake, much the way Mrs. Butterworth’s maple flavored syrup compares to real maple syrup from trees in Canada or Vermont. It always made me slightly queasy.

This year, I was in such a holiday mood, that when I came across a recipe online for old-fashioned eggnog, it sounded frothy and merry and delicious. I also realized our ancestors knew how to cut the cream and make anyone love eggnog: with a lot of liquor.

Using the old-fashioned recipe, I created my eggnog with one difference. I used only Cognac and Cointreau as the potent ingredients – but I followed the same overall measurement of liquor. It took an awfully long time to whip the mixture into peaks, but I was committed. I did both sets of whipping with vigor, for an especially extended period of time. When it was ready, it was delicious…the best eggnog I’d ever tasted.

It was so airy and light, with a lovely delicate flavor. But it was a bit difficult to drink, as the froth that had been whipped so superbly now stuck to the side of the glass heroically. But I wanted that foam with the drink, much like a perfect cappuccino.

I knew what would fix this! Ice cream. Putting the whole thing in an ice cream machine would freeze the mixture while still keeping it slushy because of the alcohol. It would be the perfect homemade eggnog ice cream shake. And so I froze it. And then I ate it. And drank it. And spooned it into my coffee in the morning. And served it to everyone who came into my house. Then, we drank more. It was the perfect beginning to my holiday mornings and the perfect end to my holiday dinners.

I really do love eggnog, now just as much as my ancestors did.

Caramel Coconut Cookie Ice Cream Pie Recipe

by liz · Jun 9, 2018

When summer rolls around, there is one dessert I really crave — ice cream. I love to make ice cream in all it forms: ice milk, frozen yogurt, sorbet, granita, etc. And when I need a dessert to please a group, ice cream pie is one of the easiest ways to turn this iconic summer treat into a dessert for all.

This ice cream pie recipe features a homemade crust and homemade whipped topping, sandwiching one of Dreyer’s & Edy’s new summer Slow Churned flavors: Caramel Coconut Cookie Ice Cream. And homemade pie crust is actually pretty easy. To make the crust, just blend together graham crackers, coconut flakes, coconut oil and butter (see full recipe below).

And just think of the twists you can make on this pie crust recipe! Here are some ideas:

Instead of chocolate graham crackers, use honey or cinnamon graham crackers or any of your favorite crunchy cookies (ginger snaps, thin mints, milanos, etc.)
Instead of coconut flakes, use powdered caramel creamer or coffee mix, finely chopped ginger or any citrus zest.

And in the topping, I can think of many fun ingredients:

Add softened cream cheese to give it a frosting taste
Add a dash of any kind of flavored schnapps, maple syrup or almond flavoring
Use chocolate sauce or fresh fruit instead of caramel.

The possibilities are limitless when you think of all the ice cream flavors available! And don’t forget you can make just about any ice cream flavor you want. I’m looking forward to these additional summer flavors from Dreyer’s/Edy’s:

3 Stripes You’re Out (Grand only) – vanilla ice cream with mixed berry and strawberry swirls
Sunny Salted Caramel Pretzel (Grand and Slow Churned) – vanilla ice cream with a salted caramel swirl and pretzel pieces
German Chocolate Cake Spectacular (Grand and Slow Churned) – chocolate ice cream with a caramel coconut swirl and brownie pieces
Take the Cake (Slow Churned only) – yellow cake-flavored light ice cream with a frosting swirl and multi-colored sprinkles

I don’t know about you, but I can think of a different ice cream pie I can make each week of summer! It’s definitely going to be a good one at my house.

Caramel Coconut Cookie Ice Cream Pie from Meals.com

Ingredients for 8 servings:

CRUST

9 large chocolate graham cracker rectangles, broken into rough pieces
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FILLING

1 container (1.5 quarts) DREYER’S or EDY’S SLOW CHURNED Limited Edition Caramel Coconut Cookie Light Ice Cream, softened

TOPPING

1 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup toasted coconut
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 325° F.

FOR CRUST:

PLACE graham crackers, coconut and sugar in food processor or blender; cover. Honey grahams are shown above.

Process for 30 seconds or until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Place crumbs in medium bowl; stir in melted coconut oil and butter. Stir until crumbs are moistened. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch glass pie plate.

BAKE for 20 to 22 minutes or until crust is set. Cool crust completely on a wire rack.

FOR FILLING:

SPREAD softened ice cream into pie crust. Cover; freeze for 6 hours or until ice cream is completely firm, as shown above.

FOR TOPPING:

PLACE cream and sugar in chilled medium mixing bowl. Beat just until stiff peaks form. Evenly spread whipped cream over ice cream. Sprinkle with toasted coconut; drizzle with caramel topping (above shows chocolate sauce). Cut into slices; serve immediately.

Caramel Coconut Cookie Ice Cream Pie

Author: Meals.com

Recipe type: Dessert

This ice cream pie recipe features a homemade crust and homemade whipped topping, sandwiching one of Dreyer's & Edy's new summer Slow Churned flavors: Caramel Coconut Cookie Ice Cream. And homemade pie crust is actually pretty easy. To make the crust, just blend together graham crackers, coconut flakes, coconut oil and butter.

Ingredients

CRUST
9 large chocolate graham cracker rectangles, broken into rough pieces
¼ cup shredded coconut
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
FILLING
1 container (1.5 quarts) DREYER'S or EDY'S SLOW CHURNED Limited Edition Caramel Coconut Cookie Light Ice Cream, softened
TOPPING
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
⅓ cup toasted coconut
½ cup caramel ice cream topping

Instructions

PREHEAT oven to 325° F.
FOR CRUST:
PLACE graham crackers, coconut and sugar in food processor or blender; cover. Process for 30 seconds or until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Place crumbs in medium bowl; stir in melted coconut oil and butter. Stir until crumbs are moistened. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch glass pie plate.
BAKE for 20 to 22 minutes or until crust is set. Cool crust completely on a wire rack.
FOR FILLING:
SPREAD softened ice cream into pie crust. Cover; freeze for 6 hours or until ice cream is completely firm.
FOR TOPPING:
PLACE cream and sugar in chilled medium mixing bowl. Beat just until stiff peaks form. Evenly spread whipped cream over ice cream. Sprinkle with toasted coconut; drizzle with caramel topping. Cut into slices; serve immediately.

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Happy National Watermelon Day!

by liz · Jun 2, 2018

Tomorrow, National Watermelon day is one of the best days of the year! And there are so many ways to enjoy watermelon, whether you just dig in to this juicy, sweet summertime treat or use it in sorbet, drinks or even salsa. Or maybe you just want an ice cream treat that looks like watermelon…

Read on for recipes using watermelon in an ice cream treat, salsa, sorbet and agua fresca. Get even more watermelon recipes from the official watermelon site! And enjoy summertime.

Watermelon Ice Cream Bombe

Ingredients for 16 servings:

4 cups lime sherbet, slightly softened
5 cups Vanilla ice cream
1 container (28 ounces) Strawberry or Raspberry Fat Free Sorbet
1/2 cup Semi-Sweet mini chocolate morsels

Directions:

LINE 2-quart bowl with plastic wrap, making sure wrap hangs over side of the bowl by at least 4 inches.

SPOON sherbet into large mixer bowl; beat with mixer or stir with spoon until smooth. Spoon sherbet into prepared bowl, pressing into the bottom and up the side with the back of a spoon to form a smooth layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Remove vanilla ice cream from freezer and allow to soften for 10 minutes; spoon into large mixer bowl and beat with mixer or stir with spoon until smooth. Add to bowl with sherbet, smoothing it over the sherbet in a thin layer. Freeze for 30 minutes.

REMOVE sorbet from the freezer and allow to soften for 10 minutes. Spoon sorbet into large mixer bowl and beat with mixer or stir with spoon until smooth; stir in morsels. Spoon sorbet mixture over ice cream so it fills the remaining space and fills the bowl. Smooth down top; cover with plastic overhang, then add another sheet of plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 6 hours or up to 1 week.

TO UNMOLD, remove plastic wrap from top of bowl. Gently tug at the plastic overhang to loosen the bombe from the bowl. (If the bombe is difficult to remove from the bowl, set it in a large bowl filled with warm water for 8 to 10 seconds.) Place a serving platter over the bowl, invert and shake to release bombe. Peel away plastic wrap, then cut bombe into wedges. Serve immediately.

Watermelon Salsa recipe, shown above

Ingredients:

3 cups diced watermelon
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
¼ cup lime juice
½ cup minced red onion
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and stir. Adjust spices as needed. Serve at room temperature with tacos, fish, meats or vegetables.

Frozen Fruit Pop-a-looza: Lime Pops, Fruit Pops & Mocha Pops

by liz · Jul 27, 2016

I love national food holidays. What better excuse to have a dinner party and celebration something you haven’t eaten in a long time? August has an abundance of frozen treat holidays: Ice Cream Sandwich Day, Ice Cream Soda Day, Root Beer Float Day, Frozen Custard Day, Ice Cream Pie Day and on and on.

Root Beer Float Day was actually yesterday, which really sounded good, and then I read about some interesting not-root-beer frozen treats. I love frozen anything pops, so I decided to give you some frozen fruit pops — an August Frozen Treat-a-Palooza!

1. Java Mocha Frozen Cream Bars, shown above

Perfect for summer treats! These Java Mocha Frozen Cream Bars take just 20 minutes prep time, then are frozen overnight.

2. Frozen Lime Pops

Kids and adults alike will give this tangy, creamy treat an A+. These treats are a healthier choice for an after school snack, weekend sweet, or dessert. And, they are so easy to make, kids will have fun helping prepare them.

3. Dark Chocolate Coffee Pops

Dark Chocolate Coffee Pops feature Skinny Cow dreamy clusters to create a creamy coffee frozen treat! Recipe created by Monica Benavidez, author of the blog Monica Wants It.

Happy German Chocolate Cake Day & Early Father’s Day

by liz · Jun 11, 2013

My dad’s favorite cake has always been German chocolate cake. Early in this cake’s life, that meant using Samuel German’s baking chocolate to make a light-bodied chocolate layer cake, then adding coconut, caramel and pecan icing or glaze in between the layers and on top. You can see why he liked it so much!

When I was young, this was not my favorite cake to eat (no nuts or coconut for this girl, thank you) and it wasn’t the easiest cake to make either. My dad sometimes received a leaning tower of cake mess, other times a whole new version of the cake without layers or coconut or nuts after misreading the salt measurement — I accidentally switched the salt and sugar amounts — and dumping the entire first attempt into the creek behind our house. And for this, he should be thankful.

Today, I join my dad in loving German chocolate cake. And even though I now know how to make chocolate layer cakes, I really love to make these German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream Sundaes instead. It’s easy and satisfying and I don’t even have to turn on my oven! The ice cream even has little bites of chocolate cake in it (and if you can’t find the special German Chocolate Cake summertime flavor, any chocolate ice cream with brownie chunks will do). The flavor takes me right back to countless Father’s Days and birthdays for my dad, which I can now make taste richer and creamier.

Here’s to you dad!

German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream Sundaes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Evaporated Milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk, beaten
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
1/2 cup flaked coconut
6 scoops German Chocolate Cake Spectacular Ice Cream
1/3 cup whipped cream (optional)
6 maraschino cherries (optional)

Directions:

COMBINE evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolk and butter in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until thickened, as shown above.

Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract, pecans and coconut. Pour into a bowl; cool to room temperature.

PLACE scoop of ice cream into each of 6 bowls; drizzle with topping. Garnish with whipped cream and cherries, if desired as shown above. Serve immediately.

Happy German Chocolate Cake Day & Early Father's Day

Author: Meals.com

Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 6 servings

My dad's favorite cake has always been German chocolate cake. Today, I join my dad in loving German chocolate cake. And even though I now know how to make chocolate layer cakes, I really love to make these German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream Sundaes instead. It's easy and satisfying and I don't even have to turn on my oven!

Ingredients

½ cup Evaporated Milk
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk, beaten
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup toasted chopped pecans
½ cup flaked coconut
6 scoops German Chocolate Cake Spectacular Ice Cream
⅓ cup whipped cream (optional)
6 maraschino cherries (optional)

Instructions

COMBINE evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolk and butter in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract, pecans and coconut. Pour into a bowl; cool to room temperature.
PLACE scoop of ice cream into each of 6 bowls; drizzle with topping. Garnish with whipped cream and cherries, if desired. Serve immediately.

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