Low FODMAP Baked Alaska
Just like the classic, our Low FODMAP Baked Alaska is comprised of cake, ice cream and browned meringue, but ours is LOFO, GF and LF! This one is a SHOWSTOPPER!
Ingredients:
- 2- gallons (7.5 L) lactose-free ice cream, your choice of flavor(s)
- Half a batch of Easy Low FODMAP Chocolate Cake, baked in an 8-inch (20 cm) round pan, cooled and split horizontally
- 1 batch Italian Meringue Buttercream, made WITHOUT adding the butter
- 1 cup (240 ml) Dark Chocolate Ganache, warmed, thinned if needed with a little lactose-free milk or cream to be quite pourable
Preparation:
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One Day Before: The day before you plan to serve the dessert, or up to 3 days ahead, line the bowl and the funnel(s) with plastic wrap. Use as few pieces as possible to get the job done, but as many pieces as is necessary to completely line the “molds”; allow extra plastic wrap to overhang; set aside.
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Transfer your ice cream to the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before working with it to soften. You want to soften it “just” enough to work with, but not allow it to melt.
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Now you are going to pack your ice cream into the molds. Pack it in there in whatever way you like, either keeping each mold one flavor, or you can make layers of different flavored ice cream, within each mold.
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For the bowl I began with packing 1-quart (960 ml) of ice cream into the rounded bottom of the bowl, then I took one layer of cake, cut it to fit, and pressed it on top of the ice cream. Then I packed the bowl with more ice cream, almost to the top, pressed the remaining cake layer on top bringing everything to the rim, and then wrapped it well with plastic wrap. Pack the funnel(s) with ice cream too, all the way to the rim, cover with plastic wrap and freeze all of them at least overnight.
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Early The Day Of: Make sure you have room in your freezer for the assembled dessert. Working quickly, unmold your ice cream shapes. Simply lift excess plastic wrap up and out of the molds to facilitate. It the ice cream is really resisting, you can wrap a hot cloth around the outside of the molds briefly.
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Center the cake bottom of your bowl shaped ice cream, flat side down, on a freezer-safe and heatproof serving platter. Place larger funnel on top of that, flat side down and then the smaller funnel on the very top in a similar fashion, if using. If they are sliding around a little bit, just wait a moment, allow the ice cream to soften and press firmly to help them all settle into place. Take your bamboo skewer and press it straight down from the top. This will take some elbow grease. Keep pressing until the skewer goes through all the ice cream and at least some of the cake. This will keep the layers connected and centered. Leave some skewer sticking out of the top for now. Wrap the whole shebang with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours. (See Tips for another approach if you don’t have the freezer space).
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Right Before Serving: First of all, if you are going to need the oven, then arrange the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). If you are going to use your torch, have that ready to go.
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Make the Italian Meringue: Follow the instructions for our Italian Meringue Buttercream but DO NOT add the butter. Simply make the meringue through beating till cool after adding the hot sugar syrup.
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For Assembly: Remove your cake/ice cream “tree” from freezer. Use an icing spatula or the back of a large spoon apply the meringue so that it covers every part completely. Bring the meringue all the way down to connect the cake and platter. Make nice whorls and swirls as seen in the images.
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If you are going to make this into a flaming volcano, nestle an upturned eggshell half in the very top of the “tree”.
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Now, if you are using the oven, place platter on a sheet pan and place the Baked Alaska in oven for about 5 minutes or just until browned.
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Alternatively, use your torch to brown the meringue, waving it back and forth over the meringue. You will see very quickly how close (or far) you need to be to get the results you want. I like my meringue nice and toasty. I left it a little light for the images, but simply toast to your desired “doneness”.
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If you are going to flame the dessert, pour a little bit of vodka into the eggshell and carefully ignite. I tried to get a pic of the flame and failed! It just didn’t show up!
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Serve immediately with warm chocolate sauce. There is no getting around the fact that this will be a bit messy to serve and the way it looks on the plate. I promise, you, no one will complain. They will all be drooling in anticipation and jockeying for first in line - and then seconds (as digestion allows). Just cut into it with a large, sharp knife and have a cake server/spatula nearby to help.
Notes:
Tips
- If you do not have a lot of freezer space, you can make the meringue, which can hold for a bit. Then unwrap your frozen shapes, assemble them, skewer them, cover them with meringue, brown and serve immediately.
- For Same Day Assembly and Serving: You can also pack the molds the day you are serving the dessert. Do so very early in the day, let them freeze all day, then assemble the cake and ice cream late afternoon/early evening and freeze for a couple of hours before applying meringue, browning and serving.
- You can also freeze the baked Alaska after the meringue has been applied and freeze overnight. I do not like to do this for two main reasons: 1) you need a lot of freezer room so that nothing touches it and 2) you cannot wrap it up, which means that it can pick up weird, errant freezer smells. But if you want to, you can. Then brown the meringue right before serving.