Ask a Chef reveals the secrets of those superb dishes you ate in cafes and restaurants and wanted to try yourself.
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No.7 Balmac’s Bombe Alaska
Makes 12
Equipment
electric beater or bench mixer
microwave or double boiler
blowtorch
food thermometer
sieve
oven tray 23cm x 33cm
8cm straight-edge cookie cutter
ice cream scoop 5cm
small palette knife
Ingredients
Bombe Alaska
1 litre good-quality ice cream (we use Kapiti Black Doris Plum and Creme Fraiche)
For the base
175gm Whittaker’s Dark Ghana chocolate
175gm caster sugar
6 eggs, separated
40g cocoa
1 cup dried cranberries
Italian meringue
6 egg whites or 180g egg whites
360g caster sugar
100ml water
Method
Preheat oven to 175degC.
Grease and line the tray with baking paper.
Melt chocolate in microwave or over a bain marie.
Cream egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick.
Beat whites until firm and glossy.
Mix melted chocolate into creamed egg yolks, then incorporate egg whites, a third at a time.
On the last third, sift on the cocoa powder, and fold through until all ingredients are incorporated.
Pour and spread on your lined tray, and dot over the cranberries.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm to the touch.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Using your cutter, cut three rounds down and four rounds across.
Freeze until firm.
Once frozen, scoop your ice cream, making sure there isn’t a hollow centre, and place a scoop on each of the bases. Return to freezer.
Italian meringue
Place water in a pot, add sugar, boil then simmer until syrup reaches 120degC.
Meanwhile, place whites in your bench-top mixer with whisk attached.
Once syrup is ready, turn the mixer to high speed, and pour in the syrup.
Beat the whites until they are firm, glossy and cooled — about eight minutes.
Let the meringue cool completely, at least 30 minutes. If it’s the slightest bit warm it won’t stick to the ice cream.
Once you are ready to cover the bombes, beat the meringue to remove any large air pockets.
Using a large spoon, dollop on the meringue and spread with a small palette knife or butter knife until the entire bombe is covered in meringue. Return to the freezer.
Once ready to serve, preheat oven to 200degC.
Carefully burnish your meringue with the blowtorch then bake in the oven for five minutes.
Serve with stewed blackberries or similar tart-flavoured fruit.
-Provided by Balmac No.7 head chef Penny Allan. Requested by Viv Reed from Blenheim.
If you have enjoyed a dish in an Otago cafe or restaurant and would like the recipe, write to Ask a Chef, Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, Dunedin, fax 474-7422, or email odt.features@odt.co.nz, including your name, address and a daytime telephone number, and we will request it.
