Baked Alaska recipe from Teri Wilson, author of LI Alaska series

Hi, everyone! 

This is a post I've been meaning to do for a while. You know how it is...there's always something you plan on doing, and somehow it just gets put off. Right?

A few years ago, when I was busy slaving away on ALASKAN HEARTS (which would later become my very first book with Love Inspired), I remember saying to my critique partners, "If I ever sell this book to Harlequin, I'm going to celebrate by making Baked Alaska." I mean, how appropriate! 

Fast forward to the present. My Alaska series for LI is now 5 books strong, and have I made that Baked Alaska yet? Um...no. Not exactly. There's something little intimidating about taking on an ice cream cake that you eventually set on fire. 

How does it not turn into a melted mess? Better yet, how do I manage to not set my kitchen fire?

But right here, right now, I'm taking the first step. I found a recipe! (Don't laugh. You have to start somewhere.) 

I'm including the recipe below. This particular recipe does not require actual flames. But the total preparation time is a whopping eight hours and 30 minutes. Egad. Never fear, though. Only one hour of that time is active. (I can only assume the rest of the time is spent wondering what you've gotten yourself into.) And look how pretty it is! Just like Alaska, only with sugar. 

Does anyone care to join me in this little culinary adventure? Better yet, has anyone actually made Baked Alaska before??

Do tell. Please. 

Ingredients

Ice Cream Dome

2

cups (1 pint) peppermint ice cream, softened

6

cups (1.5 quarts) mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened

6

cups (1.5 quarts) vanilla ice cream, softened 

Brownie Base

1

cup butter

8

oz bittersweet chocolate

4

eggs

2

cups sugar

2

teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4

cup all-purpose flour

1

teaspoon baking powder

1/2

teaspoon salt

Merinque

8

egg whites, room temperature

1/4

teaspoon cream of tartar

1

cup sugar

Directions

Directions 

• Line a 3-quart bowl with plastic wrap. Fill base of bowl with peppermint ice cream; layer with mint chocolate chip ice cream, then finish with a layer of vanilla ice cream. Cover surface with plastic wrap and freeze until ice cream is very hard, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours in advance.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place butter and chocolate in a medium glass bowl over a saucepan of hot water (or a double boiler) and stir the butter and chocolate until melted. This can also be done in a microwave by placing butter and chocolate in microwave-safe medium glass bowl and microwaving on High for 1 to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring once. Set aside to cool
• In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until well combined. In another medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the flour to the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Pour into cake pan. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• When the brownie is completely cool, about 1 hour. Turn brownie out onto a large flat, ovenproof plate. Unmold the ice cream dome on top of the brownie layer. Place back in the freezer. 
• With electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar for 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Increase the speed to high and add the sugar in a slow stream until stiff, glossy peaks form.
• Remove ice cream dome from freezer. Remove plastic wrap. Cover the ice cream dome with the meringue, covering it completely, using the back of spoon to make swirly peaks. Freeze for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.
• Heat the oven to 500°F. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until the peaks start to turn a golden brown color. For easier slicing, let cake stand for 30 minutes. Slice and serve. 

Come visit Teri's world of Aurora, Alaska, in her latest book for Love Inspired - ALASKAN HOMECOMING. 

Ballet dancer Posy Sutton is only back in her hometown of Aurora, Alaska, until her injury heals. It's a decision that'd be easier to stick to if she didn't keep bumping into her charming ex-boyfriend, Liam Blake. After six years, she should be over him—but instead all she can see is the mistake she made when she left him. She's not sure she can handle choosing between Liam and ballet a second time…if Liam is even willing to risk his heart again. When her time in Alaska is up, will she and Liam be part of the sweetest dance of all?

Recipe from Betty Crocker.

Ballerinas and Bears! ALASKAN HOMECOMING by Teri Wilson

 

Hi everyone! I'm Teri Wilson, and today is my day on the blog. I write for Love Inspired, and my most recent book is ALASKAN HOMECOMING, which came out in March.

ALASKAN HOMECOMING is the 4th book in my series of Alaskan romances for LI, so it's full of fun Alaskan things, like snow, ice skating, naughty reindeer, gigantic dogs, snowball fights, romance (of course!) and bears. Lots of bears! But I can't say anymore about that without giving things away. No spoilers!

One of the things I like best about ALASKAN HOMECOMING is my heroine, Posy. She's a ballerina. I love ballet, and I've wanted to write a ballet-themed book for a long time. (I just had to figure out how to bring ballet to Alaska.) So, in celebration of my heroine, Posy Sutton, here are seven fun facts about ballet:

1. A male dancer lifts over one and a half tons (!) worth of ballerinas during a single ballet performance.

2. Most ballerinas wear out 2-3 pair of pointe shoes per week. 

3. One tutu costs up to $2,000 to make. 

4. The same tutu requires 60-90 hours of labor and over 100 yards of ruffle.

5. The amount of energy needed to perform a ballet is about the same as playing two full football matches or running 18 miles. 

6. Pointe shoes never have the ribbons sewn on when you buy them. Dancers sew their own ribbons into their shoes, so they can customize exactly where they're placed. They usually sew elastic onto the shoes as well. The amount of time that ballet dancers spend with a needle in their hands is a lot.

7. A prima ballerina can complete 32 fouette turns, while staying in the same exact spot on the floor. After the turns, the tip of her pointe shoe is hot to the touch. 

Surprised? There's a lot to ballet besides pretty pink satin and ballerina buns! Want to learn more? Check out ALASKAN HOMECOMING!

Ballet dancer Posy Sutton is only back in her hometown of Aurora, Alaska, until her injury heals. It's a decision that'd be easier to stick to if she didn't keep bumping into her charming ex-boyfriend, Liam Blake. After six years, she should be over him—but instead all she can see is the mistake she made when she left him. She's not sure she can handle choosing between Liam and ballet a second time…if Liam is even willing to risk his heart again. When her time in Alaska is up, will she and Liam be part of the sweetest dance of all?

Alaskan Homecoming by Teri Wilson

From the author:  My March Love Inspired release is called ALASKAN HOMECOMING. This book is the fourth in my Alaska series from Love Inspired, and it's a contemporary inspirational romance. The heroine of ALASKAN HOMECOMING is a ballerina, which thrills me to pieces. I've been wanting to write a dancer heroine for a long time. Here's a tiny peek at ALASKAN HOMECOMING:

Ballet dancer Posy Sutton is only back in her hometown of Aurora, Alaska, until her injury heals. It's a decision that'd be easier to stick to if she didn't keep bumping into her charming ex-boyfriend, Liam Blake. After six years, she should be over him—but instead all she can see is the mistake she made when she left him. She's not sure she can handle choosing between Liam and ballet a second time…if Liam is even willing to risk his heart again. When her time in Alaska is up, will she and Liam be part of the sweetest dance of all?

1. Posy, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

I'm a ballet dancer. I can't remember a time when I didn't dance. My parents say that even as a two-year-old, I would dance to the beat of the push-button toys in the church nursery.

2.  What do you do for fun?

My career doesn't leave me much free time, but recently I got into a snowball fight with the youth group at church. And, ahem, the youth pastor. Strangely enough, it was the most fun I've had in a long time.

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?

Since I've been home in Alaska, I've been getting a lot of phone calls from the ballet director of the company where I dance in San Francisco. I can't bring myself to talk to him. Not yet...

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?

Losing what I love most. For me, that's always been dance. But now I'm not so sure.

5.  What do you want out of life?

Dance has always been everything to me, but I'm starting to realize that it may not be enough. People need to love and be loved.

6. What scripture most defines your life?

A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to

dance..." Ecclesiastes 3:4

7.  What is the most important thing to you?

The most important thing to me is loving God and honoring his plan for my life, even though sometimes I have trouble knowing exactly what that is.

8.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would take back all the hurtful things I ever said to the people I care about.

9.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

I don't have a pet, but the church youth group has a dog for a mascot. A big dog. A REALLY big dog. When I first got to town, I mistook him for a bear. But that's another story. 

10. Can you tell us a little interesting tidbit about the time period you live in?

It's the most exciting time of all - the present. I'm finally learning to live in the moment instead of always looking back. 

Alaskan Homecoming, my grandpa and Peter & the Wolf!

Hi everyone! It's Teri Wilson, and this month I'm celebrating the release of the newest book in my Alaska series for Love Inspired. Here's a little bit about Alaskan Homecoming.

Ballet dancer Posy Sutton is only back in her hometown of Aurora, Alaska, until her injury heals. It's a decision that'd be easier to stick to if she didn't keep bumping into her charming ex-boyfriend, Liam Blake. After six years, she should be over him—but instead all she can see is the mistake she made when she left him. She's not sure she can handle choosing between Liam and ballet a second time…if Liam is even willing to risk his heart again. When her time in Alaska is up, will she and Liam be part of the sweetest dance of all?

Will they? I'll never tell! *wink*

This was a book that I've been wanting to write for a very long time. I love ballet. I take dance lessons, and I've always wanted to write a ballerina heroine. I think most writers will tell you that we always leave pieces of ourselves behind in every book we write. My passion for ballet and romance are just a few of the pieces of myself in Alaskan Homecoming. I've also included a very special musical arrangement.

My heroine, Posy, uses a classical recording of Peter & the Wolf to teach ballet lessons at the church youth group. I chose this piece of music because it's something that my grandfather played for me all the time when I was a little girl. My grandpa was a classical music buff. He loved to listen to John Phillips Sousa marches and Pavarotti librettos. He would turn the music up so loud that the walls in his little apartment would shake. I spent a lot of time with my grandpa, and I'm so proud to say that a love for classical music is one of his passions that he passed along to me. And it all started with Prokofiev's Peter & the Wolf, narrated by Boris Karloff. It was a story set to music. The most magnificent thing I'd ever heard. 

My grandpa played it every time he babysat for me. I remember sitting at his kitchen table, eating raisin toast with butter and listening to the lilting tune of Peter early on Saturday mornings. It's how I learned what different instruments sounded like. It's how I learned to love music. It's how I learned who my grandpa was. I loved him very much, and that's why my heroine dances to Peter & the Wolf in Alaskan Homecoming.  

Click here to listen to Peter & the Wolf in its entirety. It's about 26 minutes long, but I hope you give it a listen, even if just for a minute or two. Enjoy! 

And if you happen to pick up a copy of Alaskan Homecoming, happy reading! 

Love and blessings, 

Teri xo

Visit me at www.teriwilson.net!
Click here to purchase ALASKAN HOMECOMING