OK, we’re here today with round two of me pretending I’m on The Great British Baking Show on PBS. Have you guys been watching? Last week I made a “Signature” dessert, which was the extra delicious Banana Pudding Cheesecake, and I’ve heard form some of you who have already made it, that you LOVED it! I LOVE hearing that! Well, today we’re doing something a little more involved, but TOTALLY doable. You guys know I don’t do complicated desserts. But today we’re baking along with the “Charismatic Cupcake” Challenge. And I’ve got a fun one. Baked Alaska Cupcakes! Besides being drop dead gorg, they are so delicious. The soft vanilla cupcake is topped with a fresh raspberry and chocolate chip raspberry ice cream, finished with a gorgeous swirl of toasted marshmallow meringue. Certainly, there are a few steps to making these, but they are all fairly straight forward. If I can do it, so can you! This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. And while I made a vanilla cupcake as the base, you can absolutely get creative with your flavor combinations and bake any flavor you would like. Since I chose to use a raspberry chip ice cream, I thought it would be fun to add a fresh raspberry to the cupcake as well. Again, this is where you can get creative! Just cut a small well into the top so you can nestle the raspberry right in there. I like to scoop out my ice cream first, and then place it back in the freezer to get firm. This extra step makes assembling the cupcakes a little less messy! While the ice cream scoops are freezing solid, go ahead and make your marshmallow meringue topping. It’s the perfect amount to pipe high swirls on top of your cupcakes. When you’re ready to assemble the cupcakes, place the frozen ice cream on top of the cupcake… And then using a pretty large piping swirl to pipe the meringue on top of the ice cream! OR you can always spread the meringue on top using an offset spatula. Either way will be stunning! Then, the fun part is toasting up the meringue with a kitchen torch. I know it seems like there are a lot of kitchen tools used in this recipe, but hopefully they are ones you currently have in your kitchen. If not, I will link to what I used below! Dig in and enjoy! Tools used in this recipe:
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1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup cake flour 1/2 cup buttermilk 2 cups raspberry chip ice cream, or your preferred flavor 10 –20 raspberries
Meringue Topping:
1 ½ cups granulated sugar 2 egg whites 2 teaspoons light corn syrup 1/3 cup cold water 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon vanilla
Meringue Assembly: Feel free to use any flavor ice cream you like. When storing the cupcakes in the freezer, store them airtight, as the meringue will absorb any flavors in the freezer. To do this, I like to flash freeze the cupcakes uncovered for 15-20 minutes and then cover tightly with cling wrap. This way, the meringue will hold the shape you piped or spread it.
