I am so excited about how easy it is to make these individual mini Baked Alaska Ding Dongs! This is a perfect summer dessert you can have stashed in freezer and be at the ready. Individual Mini Baked Alaska Ding Dongs are Hostess Ding Dongs transformed into an elegant dessert. They will be the perfect treat on a hot day. Just 2-4 minutes in the oven or with a kitchen torch, and dessert is ready.
For Christmas I begged and begged for a kitchen torch. Sometimes whining really does get you your way. Kids whine for good reason. It’s effective. You would think that I would have outgrown the habit by now. But I love kitchen gadgets and my desire to acquire more makes me behave badly sometimes. Speaking of behaving badly, after all that whining, you would think that I would make sure to use the gift right away. But we just moved into a new house, and with all of the packing, using my kitchen torch was on the back burner (not literally, that would be really behaving bad!). I couldn’t wait to try it out on these Individual Mini Baked Alaska Ding Dongs.
Check out how easy this is! Just put a scoop of ice cream on each Ding Dong and put it back into the freezer for 2-4 hours.
Then whip up a meringue and lay it on thick! I mean it. My dad used to joke about how his little sister was so amazed by his shaving cream, that she emptied the whole can of Barbasol in the sink and was panicked trying to get it all down the drain before he would see that she had used it all to play with. The meringue reminded me shaving cream. It was fun to be a little messy with it. You can pipe it on with a star tip, and it will be beautiful. I preferred the fun and ease of spreading it all over and making pretty peaks.
These Individual Mini Baked Alaska Ding Dongs look so impressive and pretty. I made mine with cookies and cream ice cream because that is a favorite flavor in our house. But the big surprise came when I went to brown the meringue. I was so excited, kitchen torch in hand…and I burnt the first one. It takes a light touch and low flame to get a golden brown color. So it is a little slow. If you are making just one or two, the kitchen torch is the way to go. But if these are for a group, 500° F for 2-4 minutes browns them up perfectly. Just slide a metal offset spatula underneath and transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet, and they are ready to go in the oven.
Thanks to Day Dreamer Desserts for the inspiration for this pin.
This pin rocks!
Individual Mini Baked Alaska Ding Dongs
Ingredients
- 1 package 10 Hostess Ding Dong cream filled cupcakes
- 1 quart ice cream flavor of your choice
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Take ice cream out of freezer and let soften 5-10 minutes.
- Unwrap Ding Dongs.
- Place Ding Dongs on parchment lined baking sheet and top with one scoop of ice cream.
- Place in freezer 2-5 hours until firm.
- Cook corn syrup and sugar over medium heat in small sauce pan until sugar is dissolved.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla to soft peaks.
- While continuing to whisk egg whites, begin adding sugar mixture in a slow steady stream. Continue whisking egg whites until they are glossy, shiny and stiff peaks. This will take around 5-7 minutes.
- With a small spatula, spread the meringue over the ice cream and cupcakes. Put it on thick! Swirl and pull away with spatula to create beautiful peaks.
- Return to the freezer for 1-2 hours or longer.
- To remove each individual mini Baked Alaska, slide an offset spatula under the cake and transfer.
- If using a kitchen torch, remove to a plate and use kitchen torch low and slow to brown the meringue.
- If using oven, preheat to 500° F and bake on a parchment lined cooking sheet about 4 minutes until meringue is browned.
- Your Individual Mini Baked Alaska Ding Dong is now ready to serve. Enjoy!
This awesome post has been shared with Homestories A to Z and Whipperberry.
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