Individual Baked Alaska

These remind me of Mallorca many moons ago. My In-laws had an apartment there and we spent many happy holidays when we were first together. I was a really fussy eater in my teens. I remember once when we were in Mallorca, going for dinner with Richard and his brother and sister-in-law in a really fancy restaurant. I asked the maitre d' if they could do me plain steak and chips only to be told they didn't serve 'baby food', oh the humiliation. Anyway I went on to try steak Rossini and a Baked Alaska, two things I'd never tried before and actually it taught me to try new things, because when you do it can be a pleasant surprise.

1 medium flan case (see picture)

1 Tbsp of good raspberry jam 

4 scoops of good vanilla ice-cream

4 mini creme eggs or 2 funsized flakes

3 egg whites

150g caster sugar

225g raspberries

2-3 tbsp icing sugar

Start by cutting 4 discs of the flan using a 2 1/2 inch cutter, brush each disc with the raspberry jam, then use an ice-cream scoop to make 4 balls of vanilla ice-cream, make a well in the centre of each ice-cream ball and pop in the unwrapped mini creme egg. Cut 4 squares of parchment and place onto a baking sheet, on each square place a disc of flan sponge jam side up, top with the ice-cream. Place in the freezer for at least an hour.

Meanwhile whizz the raspberries and icing sugar together to make a puree, then sieve to remove any seeds.

In a bowl set over a pan with water, place the egg whites and sugar, gently heat while whisking continuously until all the sugar dissolves and feels warm to the touch. (If you have a thermometer it should reach about 70). With a hand-whisk or a free standing machine whisk until the egg whites are firm and shinny, spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small open star nozzle. Remove the ice-cream balls from the freezer and *pipe the meringue to cover the surfaces. Now with a blow torch gently caramelise the surface. Serve immediately with the raspberry puree.

*If you don't have a piping bag you can use a palette knife to spread over the meringue over the ice-cream.