cream out of the freezer. With the help of the cling film, remove the ice cream from the pudding bowl and place it upside down onto the cake, removing all the cling film.
Quickly spoon over the meringue, spreading it thickly and in peaks over the ice cream and the sides of the cake, down to the baking sheet. You can cook the baked Alaska immediately or you can return it to the freezer for up to 1 hour. It will take an extra 3–4 minutes in the oven if cooking from frozen. To cook, place in the centre of the hot oven for 3–4 minutes or until the meringue is set on the outside and golden in colour.
Carefully transfer the baked Alaska to a serving plate, using a palette knife dipped in hot water to help you slide and push it onto the plate. Serve straight away on its own or with chocolate sauce.
Variation
If you prefer, you can make this dish using a plain version of the sponge. Follow the recipe as above but simply omit the chocolate from the mixture.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Ready in: 10 minutes
Makes: about 400ml (14fl oz)
200ml (7fl oz) double or regular cream
200g (7oz) dark chocolate, in drops or chopped into pieces
1–2 tbsp rum or brandy (optional)
To make the hot chocolate sauce, place the cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the chocolate and stir until just melted, then add the rum or brandy (if using). Reheat the sauce gently when needed.
Chocolate orange sauce
Add 1–2 tablespoons of orange liqueur (such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier) and 1 teaspoon of finely grated orange zest to the basic chocolate sauce.
Carrot cake is a classic. Carrots were originally added to cakes to sweeten them when sugar was rare and expensive. Despite sugar being readily available today, carrot cake remains universally popular, the carrots adding not just sweetness but moisture and a lightly resistant texture. Here are three different types of carrot cake. This first one is cooked in a loaf tin where the cream-cheese icing has just a hint of orange. Then there are some cupcakes, which are infused with ginger – both ground and crystallised. These are followed by a layer cake, where the icing is laden with the caramel flavour of dulce de leche.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time:1 hour–1 hour 15 minutes
Ready in: 2 hours
Serves: 8–10
2 eggs
150ml (5fl oz) sunflower or vegetable oil
200g (7oz) soft light brown sugar
300g (11oz) peeled and grated carrots (weight when grated)
75g (3oz) pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
175g (6oz) self-raising flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
Pinch of salt
For the icing
100g (3½oz) cream cheese
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
200g (7oz) icing sugar, sifted
900g (2lb) loaf tin
Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F), Gas mark 2, and line the base and sides of the loaf tin with baking parchment, with the paper coming above the sides of the tin to enable the cake to be lifted out easily.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl to break them up, then whisk in the oil, sugar, grated carrots and chopped nuts. Sift in the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture together using a wooden or large metal spoon.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smoothing the surface with a palette knife, and bake in the oven for between 1 hour and 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then carefully lift the cake out of the tin with the lining paper. Peel away the baking parchment and place on a wire rack to cool down fully before you ice it.
While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Beat all the ingredients together, then use a palette knife to spread evenly over the cake.
Tip Try to use a serrated knife to cut this cake into slices, as it is dense but quite crumbly.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 20–25 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour
Makes: 12 cupcakes
For adding to the cake batter
50g (2oz) crystallised ginger, finely chopped
For the icing
200g (7oz) cream cheese
200g (7oz) icing sugar, sifted
½ tsp ground ginger
To decorate
75g (3oz) crystallised ginger, finely chopped
12-cup muffin tray and 12 muffin cases
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4, and line the muffin tray with the paper cases.
Mix together the ingredients for the cake batter following the second paragraph of the Carrot cake method, omitting the nuts and adding the crystallised ginger instead, then divide the mixture between the muffin cases,
