Mini Baked Alaska

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A sourdough waffle topped with ice cream and meringue and cooked until golden brown. This unique dessert is simpler to make than you might think. Here’s how to make a mini Baked Alaska that your family will love.

inside view of Baked Alaska, waffle with ice cream covered by meringue.

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Tools You Will Need

The most important tool for making a Baked Alaska is a wooden cutting board. Metal cookie sheets, glass, and ceramic dishes create too much heat and you will have messy results. I have an old, wooden cutting board that I use. It doesn’t damage the wood but I still don’t use my favorite birch board just in case.

You will also need your oven preheated to 500 degrees F. Don’t start assembling your dessert until the oven is preheated as you want to get it in quickly before the ice cream starts to melt.

Ingredients to Make a Baked Alaska

  • 1 sourdough waffle
  • 1 cup of ice cream, any flavor
  • 1 1/2-2 cups of meringue

Sourdough Waffles

The base of this dessert is a waffle. And here in Alaska it better be sourdough! You can get my recipe for whole wheat sourdough waffles here. When you make a batch for breakfast, keep one or two waffles out so that you can make this for dessert!

The waffle must be cool, not hot out of the iron. If you are using a freshly made waffle, allow it to cool completely before adding the ice cream.

Our waffle iron makes six-inch waffles. Your waffle iron might make a different size so keep that in mind when it comes to how much ice cream you might need to use.

Homemade Ice Cream

Homemade ice cream is so tasty! Having our own cow, we have plenty of milk and cream so I can whip up a batch anytime. We have this ice cream maker and have been using it for almost 10 years to make our own ice cream. It’s very easy to use and works great. Here’s the basic recipe that I use for vanilla ice cream:

Homemade ice cream.

Combine the ingredients in the ice cream maker while it is running and allow it to process until it reaches your desired consistency, or according to the directions of your machine. You will only need a little over a cup of ice cream to make a mini Baked Alaska so there will be some leftover for a treat later.

You can use any ice cream in any flavor to make this dessert but avoid a sorbet. It’s delicious with chocolate and strawberry as well!

Homemade Meringue

Meringue is so easy to make and since this recipe is smaller than a pie, you won’t need a lot. Here’s how I make meringue:

  • 2 room temperature egg whites
  • 1/8 of a teaspoon of cream of tartar
  • a drizzle of honey (or pure maple syrup)
  • a drizzle of homemade vanilla extract
Homemade meringue.

Start with the egg whites and cream of tartar only. Beat on high in an electric mixer with the whisk attached for several minutes until soft peaks form. Add the honey and vanilla and continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form.

This makes the perfect amount for a mini Baked Alaska. In the future when you’re making a pie, just double this recipe for enough meringue to cover it.

How to Make a Mini Baked Alaska

Once you have your ingredients prepared, assembling this dessert only takes a few minutes.

Start with your wooden board and place the waffle in the center.

Scoop about one cup of well-frozen ice cream in the center of the waffle, leaving at least a one inch border of waffle all the way around.

Ice cream in the center of the waffle.

Scoop out some merengue and start covering the ice cream completely.

Covering the ice cream with meringue.

It must be covered all the way, especially all around the base. This will insulate the ice cream and keep it from melting.

Place the wooden board into the oven and watch carefully. It only takes a few minutes for the meringue to start to lightly brown and that’s all it needs.

Wooden board in the oven with the Baked Alaska on top.

Carefully remove the wooden board from the oven.

Sourdough waffle with ice cream and meringue and baked until golden brown.

Now you can slice it up into individual portions and see how the ice cream is still frozen inside! This is a great dessert to make for little ones as they will be amazed that the ice cream went into the oven and didn’t melt. Any age, however, will enjoy this delicious treat.

Sourdough waffle with ice cream on top covered by meringue.

This recipe should be enough for two to four people to enjoy. You might be able to make a larger one depending on the size of your waffle iron!

How to Make a Baked Alaska Dessert

To learn more about this historical dessert and the story behind it, as well as the history of sourdough in Alaska, I highly recommend the book Alaska Sourdough. It is so interesting to read about such an amazing food that fed the pioneers so long ago.

Baked Alaska Dessert

I hope you have fun making this interesting and yummy treat. You can make it your own with any type of waffle and your favorite flavor of ice cream. Leftover waffles never tasted so good!

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Print the Recipe

Baked Alaska

A sourdough waffle with ice cream covered in meringue and baked to a golden brown makes for unique and delicious dessert.
Print Recipe
Prep Time:5 minutes
Cook Time:5 minutes
Total Time:10 minutes

Equipment

  • Wooden cutting board

Ingredients

  • 1 Sourdough waffle
  • 1 cup Ice cream
  • 1-1 1/2 cups Meringue

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
  • Place the waffle in the center of a wooden cutting board.
  • Spoon the ice cream into the center of the waffle, leaving at least a one inch border of waffle all the way around.
  • Completely cover the ice cream with the meringue, especially all around the edges.
  • Place the wooden board carefully in the oven and allow to cook for only a few minutes, or until the meringue is lightly browned.
  • Remove from the oven, slice and serve immediately.
Servings: 4

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