Recipes

Chosen from Annie Bell’s Gorgeous Desserts

Serves 6

Annie says “Baked Alaska has always spelled a grand finale, of the same era as crepes suzettes and all things flambéed. But here the snowy mountain of warm marshmallow-like meringue conceals Christmas pudding and cooling ice cream just beginning to melt. You might pop a little holly in the top too”.

    1 x 500ml tub of vanilla (or other spice-flavoured) ice cream
    1 x 450g Christmas pudding
    4 medium egg whites
    225g caster sugar

Several hours before eating, remove the ice cream from the freezer and leave it to soften for about 20 minutes. Then slice it across 1cm thick and lay the slices out on a small baking tray or a Swiss roll tin that will fit into the freezer. Loosely cover the ice cream with clingfilm and return to the freezer to harden.

About an hour before eating, place the Christmas pudding in a saucepan with water that comes a third of the way up its sides. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over a low heat for one hour. Remove from the heat and leave the pudding in the pan while you eat your main course.

The meringue will hold for up to 60 minutes, so you can either whisk it before you eat, or just before pudding. Preheat the oven to 220C/400F/gas mark 9. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff. Gradually sprinkle over the sugar, whisking between each addition until you have a stiff and glossy meringue.

Turn out the hot Christmas pudding onto a board and slice it into about eight wedges. Arrange these in two rows side by side on a baking sheet (covered with foil if you like) so the slices overlap like roof tiles. Ease the ice cream slices off the baking sheet using a palette knife and lay them on top, again in two rows. Smooth the meringue over the sides and top so the pudding and ice cream are completely concealed. Bake for 3-4 minutes until the meringue is set and turning a pale gold. Serve immediately from the baking tray.