Baked Alaska (built on Lemon Cake)

This is my first attempt at a Baked Alaska. I made a two person piece and two individual servings because I didn't know if any would work. I think this was a good first attempt, but I need to work a bit more on getting the meringue brown. (It went from was white for the first 3 minutes under the broiler, and then went from white to browned in about 15 seconds. I think it needed about another 10 seconds, but I panicked.)

All the various attempts.

The best single portion.

Already starting to melt.

Melty, but tasty.

Since I haven't mastered the Baked Alaska (yet) I am not going to give the recipe here. (If you want it, you can easily find one online.) However, I will give the recipe for the incredibly lemony cake that I used as the foundation. It is part cake, part souffle, and total deliciousness.

Lemon Cake

Serves 8

3 tablespoon butter, softened

1 cup sugar (or I used Splenda)

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1 egg

1 cup Greek Yogurt

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup flour

3 egg whites

About 1 liter boiling water (for the water bath in the oven.)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Spray eight 5 ounce ramekins or 6 ounce custard cups with cooking spray
3. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and lemon zest, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in egg at low speed.
4. Add half the yogurt, half the lemon juice and half the flour. Beat until smooth.
5. Add remaining yogurt, juice and flour, beating until smooth. Set aside.
6. With clean beaters, beat egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff peaks form.
7. With a rubber scraper, fold half of the egg whites into lemon mixture, gently folding until no white remains. Repeat with remaining egg whites.
8. Divide mixture between ramekins. Place ramekins in a 9x13 baking dish. Add boiling water to the baking dish to surround the bowls with about one inch of water.
9. Bake until golden brown and just set in the center (about 30 minutes.)
10. Transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes
11. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve warm. As the cake cools, it will begin to collapse.

Nutritional data:

Calories:       105

Fat:               5.1g

Sat fat:          2.9g

Chol:             48mg

Sodium:        44mg

Carbs:          9.1g

Fiber:           0.7g

Protein:        6.7g

Note: the flavor is HUGE lemon, but the color is very pale. If you want it to look more "lemony" you will need to add artificial food coloring. But the aroma and flavor is so pronounced that everyone will know it is lemon cake just from the incredible smells coming from the kitchen.