Bombe Alaska Cupcakes

Place about an inch of water to a medium sized pot and bring it to the boil.

Add your egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar to a large, clean metal bowl. Mix using a whisk or handheld mixer to help combine all the ingredients.

Place the bowl with the egg mixture on top of your pot of boiling water making sure the bottom of the mixing bowl doesn’t touch the bottom of the pot. Mix on high speed for 5 m l92364500 in or until the sugar in the mixture completely dissolves. You can check this by dipping two (clean) fingers into the mixture and if you can’t feel any grains of sugar it’s ready to take off the pot. Mix on high speed once you’ve taken it off the heat (about 5-6 min) until the mixture cools down and gets thick and glossy. You want to reach stiff peaks so that the frosting holds its shape well.

To make the ice cream place the cream into a large mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to bring to soft peaks. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Whip to stiff peaks. Gently fold in raspberries. Place into half circle silicone moulds and freeze for 4 hours.

Preheat a fan-forced oven to 160C (320F) or 180C (356F) for a conventional oven. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt. Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to mix for a couple minutes to help everything combine well (alternatively you may do this by sifting the ingredients together). Add the softened butter and let it mix until it resembles a fine sand like texture.

Next, add milk, eggs, yogurt, oil and vanilla extract in a large jug and whisk well.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a slow and steady stream until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds.

Place 1 tbsp of frozen raspberries at the bottom of each cupcake liner. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way (using an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter into the cupcake liners makes this a quick and easy process otherwise you can use two tablespoons).

Bake for 30-40 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting. Please note: these cupcakes will take longer to bake because of the added moisture caused by the raspberries 🙂

To put cupcakes together, you’ll want to decorate one at a time. Add a dab of frosting on each cupcake. Stick ice cream circle on top. Cover with meringue frosting using a small off set spatula and evenly spread it all over. Use the spatula to create grooves in the frosting, taking care not to expose the ice cream. Toast using a kitchen torch. You may also bake this in the oven for 5-6 minutes until it’s golden.

Alternatively, you may use the flambé method. For this you will need about 400ml of brandy. Place the brandy in a medium sized pot and heat until right before it boils. DO NOT let it boil! Very carefully set it on fire and pour it over the cupcake AFTER you’ve taken away the papers 🙂