This dessert is making a comeback, don't Juneau?

Happiest of holidays, readers! We've been a bit crazy as usual this time of year, but I insisted on making time for a post before heading home for new year's with my family. We spent Christmas with Nick's side, our second Christmas celebrated together.

Kicking off the holiday season, we broke with tradition and stayed put for Thanksgiving - our annual Friendsgiving was combined with a holiday party in December, so we had an intimate Thanksgiving for two on Thursday, and Famsgiving with my sister and her fiance over the weekend. As you may remember, I do love the big, bang-up Thanksgiving with more people than you can fit at a normal-sized table, but there were benefits of this year's setup too:

1. We stuck with the traditionally sized bird (for just the four of us) and had all the leftovers to ourselves!
2. Two Thanksgivings allowed us to have some fun with alternate turkey approaches: (turkey schnitzel with leeks and butter-sage sauce, served with gnocchi instead of more traditional potatoes)
3. ...AND two desserts: I tried my hand at French Silk pie (Nick's favorite since childhood), and fewer diners also meant I could pull off a higher-maintenance dessert...

...mini Baked Alaskas.

I've been hearing more and more this fall that Baked Alaska is making a comeback. A warm-on-the-outside scoop of ice cream seems appropriate for this crazy El Nino weather pattern we're having this winter. For those of you unfamiliar with this throwback dessert, Baked Alaska is traditionally a piece of cake topped with ice cream, smothered in meringue and fired until the outside is toasty but the ice cream is still nice and cold, insulated by the meringue.

Sure, they require some specialized equipment (the torch), and I wouldn't recommend this dessert for a crowd, but I had a lot of fun adapting a few recipes to make a Thanksgiving-themed Baked Alaska:

• The ice cream: Three different flavors (we each sampled each other's and passed the plates around): homemade pumpkin ice cream (replaced the canned pumpkin with a real pumpkin from our fall CSA stash), ginger ice cream, chocolate ice cream
• The cake: Chocolate chip pumpkin bread (adapted from my favorite recipe: I added the chocolate chips and a dash more of each of the spices)
• The meringue: Nothing special here (whip 3 egg whites and 1/3 c sugar to soft peaks, streaming in sugar as you go).

Tips for mini-baked-Alaskan success:

• Cut out circles of cake and top with ice cream a day in advance (I used a 2.5" biscuit cutter and a medium ice cream scoop)
• You'll want to turn your freezer to MAX POWER to freeze the ice cream as hard as possible overnight (remember you're going to be torching the thing, meringue insulation aside)
• Wait until the next day to do the meringue - that way it won't develop condensation or deflate
• Just before serving, slather the meringue on thickly (using a fork to give it lots of cool ridges and dimension)
• Be fearless with the torch - you really want that nice toasted marshmallow look.