If you can whip an egg white, you can make these classy little desserts. They are quick and scrumptious.
A baked Alaska is fascinating. It’s made with three parts: A cake base, a body of ice cream, and a covering of meringue. The whole dessert is placed in the oven to bake the meringue. The meringue insulates the ice cream and keeps it from melting. It’s amazingly good.
See how to make a 
baked Alaska.
But a baked Alaska in a cup is even easier. You put cookie pieces, cake pieces, or brownie pieces in a cup. Then load it with ice cream and pile it high with meringue. Put the cup in the oven to cook the meringue to a golden, sugary crust. That’s easy.
So here’s how to do it.
The Cake Base
With a regular baked Alaska, you need a solid cake base on which to stack ice cream, in a cup, you have more liberty. Place a layer of 3/4 inch diced brownies or cake pieces in the bottom of the cup. You can also use chocolate cookie crumbs or cookie chunks. Since they’re hidden in the cup, they don’t need to be neat or even.
The Ice Cream
Use any ice cream that you want. With a regular baked Alaska, you want a brick of rock hard ice cream. In a cup, we’ll go for a slightly softer ice cream so we can scoop it out and press it into the voids. Fill the cup nearly to the brim with ice cream. Put the cups with ice cream back in the freezer while you’re mixing the meringue.
The Meringue
To make four baked Alaska desserts, use the following quantities.
2 egg large whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Drizzle in the sugar as you continue to beat. Add the vanilla. Beat until stiff peaks form. The peaks should be stiff but not shiny. Do not over beat.
You can get creative and make flavored meringue. Omit the sugar and the extract. At the soft peak stage, drizzle in 1/4 cup of Torani Syrup, any flavor you choose.
To assemble and bake
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Pile the meringue on top of the frozen ice cream. Completely cover the ice cream so that the ice cream is insulated from the heat. Repeat with the other three cups.
Place the cups on a large baking pan. (The baking sheet will help deflect heat from the bottoms of the cups.) Put a 1/2-inch of ice cold water in the pan. Place the rack in the lower third of the oven and the pan on the rack. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until the meringue has a nice golden hue. Serve warm.
Chocolate Caramel Baked Alaska in a Cup
This baked Alaska has two chocolate chip cookies in the bottom of each of the cups, we used Dad’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, then vanilla ice cream, caramel flavored meringue, and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. The mixture of caramel and chocolate flavors with the mixture of textures is delightful.
This makes a great year-around dessert. In the summer, it’s a cool dessert. In the winter, it’s a fun dessert.
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About the Author
Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available as an E-book or as a Kindle book on Amazon.
Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children and five beautiful granddaughters.