Joie Patisserie: Baked Alaska

While my hubby & I were away in Oregon we went to a fantastic restaurant in Astoria for dinner. The place was called Baked Alaska Fine Dining & Public House. Our experience got off to a bit of a rough start, but they definintely won me over by the end of our visit. I have to apologize for the quality of my photos... hubby was a little embarassed at me taking "obsessive" photos of our plates and people were looking at me, so I had to be quick about it to minimize his embarassment. ;)

When we first walked into the restaurant, it initially took a while for someone to come and seat us. We almost left... but the fellow who finally came was so nice and convinced us to sit on the patio - something we definitely didn't regret! The view was fantastic - right on the Columbia River where all the big barges dock and the little boats zip by. Lots of little seals playing in the water etc.

We both had a drink - hubby had a beer & I had a lovely blueberry mojito.

Next up our server came around with a tray of assorted fresh breads - foccacia, sourdough, and some kind of whole grain. She also brought a tray with four little dishes - garlic butter, olive oil, balsamic vinnegar, and their signature seasoned sea salt (seasoned with fresh choppped herbs). All for dipping the bread in - it was all great and so beautifully presented.

We each ordered an entree. I ordered a "small" sized dinner (which wasn't actually all that small)! I ordered the Campfire Salmon which was "an alaskan amber barbeque marinated Alaskan Coho Salmon filet, pan seared and flambeed campfire style". It was served with mashed potatoes and green beans and an amazing citrussy sauce that complimented the bbq sauce amazingly well.

Hubby ordered the Natural Ale Braised Baby Back Ribs which were "glazed with an alaskan amber bbq sauce and frizzled sweet onions. His was also served with mashed potatoes and green beans. Everything was cooked to perfection and the ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender.

Now by this point we were both soooo stuffed from all this delicious food, but we had to find room to order the restaurant's signature dessert - the Half Baked Alaska. It looks so simple in the photo, but sometimes the simplest things are the best. The most exciting thing for me was the way it arrived at our table - flaming! The half baked alaska consists of "a double chocolate chip cookie baked fresh in a cast iron skillet. Topped with vanilla bean ice cream, walnuts and chocolate sauce. Arrives at your table flaming with brandy." It was so fun. Unfortunately it was too bright outside to get any photos of the flames. :(

This was definitely a place I'll be returning to. If you're ever in the area, definitely stop by and get "half-baked". Its well worth it!

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I chose to make the Baked Alaska. I made vanilla bean ice cream, brown butter pound cake and a lovely meringue topping. As this was my first challenge I didn't deviate from the recipe, but it was delicious and challenging with many firsts for me! I've never browned butter before, but it was incredible and I will be doing so many time in the future I'm sure. The flavour is amazing! I've also never made ice cream before, particularly because I don't own an ice cream maker. But making mine without the ice cream maker turned out to be just fine - still delightfully creamy.

The first step is to make the ice cream. I used David Lebovitz's recipe from "The Perfect Scoop". Simple, but time consuming, because regular stirring is necessary for a creamy ice cream.

Vanilla Ice Cream
Makes about 1 quart (1l)

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, then add the bean pod to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.
2. To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.
4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
5. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.
6. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don't have an ice cream maker, follow instructions for freezing here.

Next up - brown the butter and make the brown butter pound cake. I know this cake sounds boring - just plain pound cake made with browned butter? Those were my initial thoughts, however, this cake is DIVINE!!! You must try it out. The nutty rich flavour of the browned butter makes the whole cake. It is moist and decadent and will go well with just about any flavours.

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.
2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.
3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.
5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.
6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cut your cake into the desired shapes for your baked alaska. I cut mine into simple rectangles, but you can do any shape. Or you can leave the cake whole or cut it into one big shape and make a family sized baked alaska! There are so many options. In hindsight, I would have cut my cake in half as the amount of cake in each baked alaska was a bit much, but they still tasted delicious.

Next step is to make the meringue. This was the easiest part of the entire challenge!

Meringue

8 large egg whites
½ teaspoon (3g) cream of tartar
½ teaspoon (3g) salt
1 cup (220g) sugar

Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on high speed in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar gradually in a slow stream until stiff peaks form.

Now to assemble the baked alaska! I simply scooped out ice cream and formed it into a mound on top of each cake piece. But you can freeze the ice cream in any type of form (ie use tea cups) to top your shape of cake. Freeze for a while until this is solid enough to work with. Remember, you don't want it melting too much when you start putting the meringue on.

Pipe the meringue onto the ice cream and cake shapes (I just smoothed it on with a spatula). Either way looks beautiful! Freeze for one hour or up to one day.

Remove from the freezer and let soften on the counter for about 10 minutes so it's not rock hard when you serve it. Then burn the tips of the meringue with a blow torch (alternatively, just broil in the oven until golden brown). Serve to your impressed guests and be sure to enjoy one yourself!