Baked Alaska is a dessert I always seem to forget about, but one that definitely should not be overlooked. This version, inspired by one of my favorite desserts—tiramisu—begins with a layer of brownie, followed by coffee ice cream, coffee-soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone vanilla ice cream, all wrapped up in a layer of toasted Swiss meringue. It’s a showstopper (designed specially for New Year’s Eve), but with store-bought ice cream, it doesn’t require as much active cooking time as it looks. This dessert is really rich, which means you can cut small pieces and serve many. 

Although Grand Marnier in the coffee soak is technically optional, I’d recommend adding it, as the alcohol helps prevent the ladyfingers from hardening in the freezer. If you don’t have Grand Marnier, you can substitute it with brandy, marsala wine, or Kahlua.

To make this ahead, you can fully complete the recipe up until the step where you toast the meringue and serve. Swiss meringue is really stable, which means it will hold up in the freezer once you’ve swirled it onto the ice cream. Freezing it after applying the meringue is even recommended to ensure the ice cream stays as cold as possible when you torch it.

If you don’t want to make homemade brownies, use store-bought brownies or a brownie mix.

Tiramisu Baked Alaska

Ditch the ice cream maker and still enjoy creamy, homemade ice cream. For this recipe, I use a simple two-ingredient base made of sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream, and swirl in homemade apricot jam and honey. The sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream take the place of the custard base in typical ice cream recipes, which helps to create a rich, smooth and fluffy texture similar to store-bought. 

If you have a hard time finding apricots, substitute with peaches or nectarines instead. 

Don’t skip the salt! It will help bring the other flavors out and personally, I love a bit of saltiness in my sweet treats. 

Freezing the ice cream for four hours should be enough if you want to enjoy it the same day, but if you have time, I recommend making it ahead and freezing it at least overnight. 

Turn the ice cream into popsicles by pouring the mixture into a popsicle mold instead of a loaf pan. 

If stored properly, homemade ice cream can last for up to a month, although I recommend eating it within two weeks for ultimate freshness. 

Make sure to wrap it well in plastic wrap and place it in a large freezer bag for extra protection.

No-Churn Apricot & Honey Ice Cream

Rumor has it Choco Tacos may be coming back this year, but that shouldn’t stop you from making your own. The shell is made with the same method you would use to make tuile cookies–spread into a thin circle and baked in the oven until golden brown and filled with (store-bought) vanilla fudge swirl ice cream. In true Choco Taco fashion, they’re also dipped in a chocolate magic shell mixed with peanuts. 

Although baking the shells in the oven allows you to make several at a time, if you want to skip this step too, you can use stroopwafels instead. Just warm them in the oven and shape them the same way I do in this recipe. However, making the shells is really the majority of the work, because once those are done, all you have to do is add ice cream and dip them in chocolate. 

I highly recommend using a silicone silpat for these, as it ensures more even browning and also makes removing the cookies from the sheet pan much easier. If you don’t have one you can use parchment paper, but they may brown quicker and won’t be as even colored. 

The original Choco Taco uses fudge-swirl ice cream, but for some reason that can be hard to find. Use vanilla, chocolate chip, or any other favorite ice cream. You can also brush the insides of the shells with melted chocolate. 

If you’re the lucky owner of a waffle cone waffle iron, use that to make the shells individually instead of baking them.

Make them in advance and store them in the freezer to enjoy as a dessert or as an after school treat. 

Homemade Choco Tacos 

In honor of Genius Recipes turning 10 years old, and this iconic three-ingredient Strawberry Sorbet from The River Café that started it all, we’re sharing a new video, with tips for adapting to the fruit and equipment you have, and a podcast episode with the story behind that whole chopped lemon (finally), plus two new sorbet buddies that require no special machinery at all. Serve this at a sorbet party along with the 

 from The River Café (both on Food52), or all on its own. The sorbet will be at its best and most dramatic with ripe, in-season fruit, but, as River Café co-founder Ruth Rogers advises, the most important thing is to taste the fruit and the sorbet before churning and adjust as needed—it should challenge you a little, and feel like the fruit is exploding in your mouth. Adapted from 

 (Ebury Press, 1996) by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. 

This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. As an Amazon Associate, Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.Hear more about this recipe from Ruthie herself, on our podcast 

Strawberry Sorbet From The River Café

This Strawberry Meringue Sundae was inspired by a Swedish classic, marängsviss, which is like the Swedish version of an English Eton Mess. It’s made with similar ingredients (meringues, whipped cream, a fruit of some sort), but with the very important addition of ice cream. If you were to make a classic marängsviss, you would assemble it family-style in a large bowl, and it would be filled with sliced bananas and drizzled with a heavy pour of warm chocolate sauce (kinda like a banana split). You could still serve this recipe family-style, but instead of chocolate sauce and bananas, I've studded it with sliced fresh strawberries and made a deliciously peppery strawberry shrub. This vinegar-based fruit syrup is usually made in a 1:1:1 fruit/vinegar/sugar ratio and typically used to flavor drinks and cocktails, but it can also be delicious to use in desserts. Although most strawberry shrubs are made with apple cider vinegar, this one is made with half balsamic to give a richer flavor, and half water, because I didn’t want the vinegar to be overpowering. This is a bit of a project, but there’s nothing difficult about any step. The result is a decadent, achievable dessert that’s a go-to in my family on birthdays and special events, especially during the summer. 

 - If you don’t have balsamic vinegar, use apple cider vinegar instead. (If you have neither, just use water; stay away from white vinegar for this recipe.) - I highly recommend making your own meringues, but you can also buy pre-made meringues if you’re in a time crunch - Make the meringues and the shrub a day in advance. Store them both in airtight containers; the meringues at room temperature and the shrub in the fridge

Strawberry Meringue Sundae

Even if you’ve never ordered a Shamrock Shake, its reappearance on McDonalds’ menus come February is a universal reminder that St. Paddy’s Day is near. Our riff on the minty green milkshake is just a wee more grown up. A fraction of a teaspoon of mint extract takes this cloyingly rich dessert and transforms it into something you might even call refreshing. The boozy whipped topping is at your discretion, of course. And a light hand with the food coloring can subtly (dare we say beautifully?) tint the shake, so it looks less like a Kelly green and more like a hint of spring to come. 


 Boozy Shamrock Shake (with Whipped Cream!)

Burrata recipes often skew savory, but this recipe embraces a sweet application—specifically: ice cream. By replacing the egg yolk mixture or crème anglaise you’d see in a classic ice cream recipe with sweet, milky BelGioioso Burrata and a touch of cornstarch—which thickens when heated and stirred—this mixture mimics the viscosity and heft you’d get from making a traditional ice cream base. From there, this ice cream recipe operates as normal; mixing and churning in an ice cream maker, until the desired consistency is achieved (pliable, but solid).

Adding BelGioioso Burrata to the base makes for a robust, rich-tasting ice cream that pairs well with simple but classic mix-ins. With summer in mind, I chose cherries for a delightfully sweet-tart foil to this creamy frozen treat. And what better way to finish off an ice cream as special as this than with more fresh cherries and chocolate shavings.

Burrata, Cherry & Honey Ice Cream

I love wine and I love making frozen confections. It’s hard for me to believe this is my first foray into making “wine-scream;” inspired by a recent Lot18 tweet on the same topic. Soon after, my mind started buzzing with all the different flavors combinations and possibilities, which are endless. Sweet and tart, this light and refreshing sherbet is bursting with fresh raspberries and is the perfect treat for long, hot summer days. 

Raspberry Riesling Sherbet

This recipe has 4 ingredients, 1 step, no cooking, and no churning, but the ice cream you get will have a creamy, almost buttery smoothness. Serve it on its own, or with chocolate sauce, or in little brioche buns. Adapted slightly from 

Nigella Lawson's One-Step, No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream

No-churn ice cream is the perfect dessert to celebrate the arrival of spring. It’s cooling, creamy, and a cinch to make. This version ups the ante by adding a bright red swirl of strawberry rhubarb jam to cut the sweetness and bring a pop of tart, spring flavor to the forefront. The swirl—a simple jam made with a combination of sliced rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice and zest, vanilla, and just enough sugar to tame the rhubarb’s bite—provides the ideal counterpart to the ice cream base. Fresh basil gets added to the jam during the final few minutes of cooking, infusing it with a subtle herbal flavor that brings springtime freshness. Everything gets cooked together until it’s thick, glossy, and scented with notes of fresh basil.


But how does the no-churn ice cream base work exactly? It all comes down to two helpful ingredients: whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk. The first, whipped cream, lightens the ice cream and give it a “churned” texture without having to use an ice cream machine. It mimics the aerating effect that ice cream machines lend custard, helping to fluff up the base so it doesn’t end up icy or too rich. The second ingredient, sweetened condensed milk, provides an ample amount of sugar content that prohibits ice crystals from forming, along with a naturally low water content. The two ingredients blend with a touch of salt and vanilla extract to create a perfect no-churn ice cream base that rivals the real deal. 

 Strawberry & Rhubarb No-Churn Ice Cream


Mainly, there are three components to this dish: cake topped with some ice cream and then covered in beautiful, silky meringue. And, for added contrast, I am flavoring all three with different, but complementary things, so that when it comes together it's just amazing. You’ll want to start with the ice cream because that's going to take the longest. And, for that, I'm going to make a nice custard base flavored with instant coffee; I absolutely love coffee flavorings in my sweets. After making the base, you’ll want to chill the custard for at least 20 minutes, so that the base is cool when it goes into the ice cream maker. And from there, time is really your best asset. Baked Alaska is most successful when the ice cream can firm up and chill for as long as possible, and when assembling for the final flash of meringue in the oven, you’ll want to work as quickly as possible to end up with this showstopper. 


Chocolate, Coffee & Hazelnut Baked Alaska 

I know that to most people, this looks very very strange. What is grass jelly ice, and who the hell is "Meet Fresh"? But believe me when I tell you that this is bona fide food porn to the 23 million Taiwanese people and that number is spreading. It is spreading fast. Grass jelly used to be a very common, low-brow summer dessert item in Asia, refreshing in its unique tea-like fIavor. But it was brought to national stardom when a company called "Meet Fresh" reinvented and turned it into a shaved ice dish that completely changed the fate of this humble ingredient. Look, this stuff is huge in Taiwan. It's not just a dessert there. It's its own freaking food group. And I'm obsessed. Therefore I'm delightfully surprised by Meet Fresh's franchise's recent massive international expansion to all major cities around the world, which had me believe that, hey, maybe other people get this stuff, too.  

So, to "get it", you have to embrace the concept of Taiwanese ice dessert. It's not a standardized item. It is a highly customizable combination (that's why there's a huge array of different combos in Meet Fresh shops) of different flavors, temperatures, and above all, and I emphasize, textures. The classic, the OG, the one that put Meet Fresh on the map, and my own personal favorite combo is what we are making today. The ice, which in this case is made of grass jelly, paints a broad brush of refreshing background flavor that contrasts generously with the starchy-sweet taste of mashed taro. The toppings, which oftentimes make or break the dessert because it provides the quintesential "QQ" (something chewy) to the party, are made from kneading cooked taro and yam together with various starches, to create "balls" that bounce to the bites. Then last but not least, invented by Meet Fresh I believe, is a last dash of coffee creamer that miraculously brings all parties together into a merry-making circle of culinary kumbaya.  

If you're Taiwanese living in a city where this God's messenger for happiness does not visit, you're welcome, and yes you can name your firstborn after me. If you're new to this concept of grass jelly ice dessert, well, you will either scratch your head in utter bafflement. Or, you're about to embark on a lifelong obsession that can single-handedly lift depression for 5 minutes straight. I say the possibility of the latter is worth giving it a try.  

Grass Jelly Ice Dessert

I’ll use chocolate chips in cookies, cakes, all the baked goods. But in ice cream? No, thanks. The texture just isn’t satisfying. This recipe is my improvement—a chocolate chip ice cream without the literal chocolate chips (aka morsels). Instead, I decided to use nature’s chocolate chips: cacao nibs. Cacao nibs are tiny bits of dried cacao beans that have a crunchy texture and a pleasantly deep, bitter taste. It’s a beautiful contrast against the silky ice cream, that, by the way, doesn’t require any churning. (Thanks to the magical two-ingredient combo of sweetened condensed milk and freshly whipped cream.) And for some actual chocolate: thinly shaved milk chocolate. Because the chocolate is broken into slivers and shards—similar to Italian stracciatella—it will melt in your mouth right away. 

Another key element to this ice cream is extra-virgin olive oil: it not only adds fat and richness to our ice cream that’ll preserve its creamy, soft and scoopable texture, it also brings a beautiful floral undertone that perfectly complements the chocolate. And don't worry, the olive oil will not make the ice cream taste like salad dressing.

No-Churn Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Picture this: you’re sitting seaside in Sicily and a salty breeze ruffles your wide-brim sun hat as you bite into a brioche con gelato, the perfect Italian interpretation of an ice cream sandwich that features fluffy, lightly sweet brioche. In my version, I make homemade vanilla ice cream with a swirl of raspberry jam and tart, crunchy freeze-dried berries—all sandwiched between an airy, flavorful St Pierre Brioche Burger Bun. Hot tip: If you’re short on time, feel free to swap in your favorite store-bought ice cream flavor.

Brioche Ice Cream Sandwich With Raspberries

What says "party" more than cake? Ice cream with cake. Or, better yet, an ice cream cake. And the first rule of ice cream cakes? There are no rules. This is your chance to culminate all your dessert training (eating) into one beautiful combo cake. Before getting started, take a moment to consider the ice cream cake’s four elements: cake, filling, topping, texture—and how you can get them to work in concert, not against each other. While you may love strawberry ice cream, caramel sauce, and chocolate sprinkles, you might not love them together. For some flavor inspo, here are a couple ideas: 

, coconut shreds. This is not the time for a fancy or fussy cake; go with one that's tried-and-true (here's our trusty 

 recipes). All you’ll need is one layer—line your cake round with a parchment circle and let it cool completely in the pan when it’s finished baking before assembling (if it’s still warm, the ice cream will melt into a puddle). While the cake is cooling, work on the ice cream—and by work, I mean buy a few pints of ice cream. Homemade is great if you have it, sure, but buying means you can easily play with different flavors in one cake (think: one layer of cherry vanilla, another pistachio; rocky road up top and coffee below). Let the ice cream soften in the fridge for 10 or so minutes—it should be easily scoopable, like the texture of a thick yogurt. The filling needn’t be just ice cream, though. For bonus points, consider other thick but spreadable liquids in the ice cream sundae family: 

. For extra credit, create distinct layers with a sprinkling of finely crushed crunchies, be it Oreo, shortbread, streusel, leftover cookies, or toasted cake crumbs. When you’re ready to layer, transfer your cake round to a plate, wrap with a collar of acetate (or 4-inch-wide sheet of parchment) for crisp-looking edges, and begin building (freezing your progress until firm, about 20 minutes after each layer). The cake collar will help you attain unimaginable heights, but be mindful as you work to keep each layer level, evenly weighted, and without excess air pockets (lift and drop the pan a few times). Whether you’ve gone cake, ice cream, fudge, ice cream; or cake ice cream, ice cream—be sure to level the top-most layer once more with an offset spatula. This will make your cherries-on-top extra handsome. Finish with a confident pour of magic shell or eager-to-set caramel sauce for an ice cream bar–like crunch or chew. Whipped cream rosettes around the cake’s edges are cute. So are sprinkles or chocolate shavings, and a literal cherry on top.

Ice Cream Cake

Mochi—smooth and pillowy and cotton ball-light—needn't be messed with. But if you had to—let's say it's summer and a billion degrees outside and you wish your big toe could be submerged in an ice bath at all times—you could combine it with ice cream. And not just combine it with ice cream, but wrap it around the scoops to make a handheld and highly adorable dessert. You can buy mochi ice cream at Trader Joe's or order it at sushi restaurants or from fancy websites. But you can also make it yourself. And today, that's just what we're doing. Together! With only two component parts (mochi, ice cream), this dessert is simple enough to conquer at home. (And personally, I do everything in my power to avoid the Trader Joe's lines in New York City.) Because the mochi needs to engulf the ice cream scoops, you'll have to contort it—manipulating (and warming, and melting) the ingredients much more than for a typical ice cream sandwich. In summer's heat, it's a bit of a wild pursuit, but not an impossible one. It's fun! And you can choose whatever combination of mochi (matcha, black sesame, vanilla, mint) and ice cream (cookies and cream, strawberry, chocolate) you want. You'll need to track down sweet glutinous rice flour and your favorite ice cream (store-bought is easier to work with than homemade if you're a first-timer), but once you've got those, you're good to go. Mochi recipe from 

Want to hear more about Japanese cuisine and culture? On our new podcast 

—a show that explores culture through food and music—host Peter J. Kim talks sushi stereotypes and the intergenerational immigrant hustle with comedian Yumi Nagashima, rapper G Yamazawa, and producer Dan the Automator—check out the episode 

Mochi Ice Cream

Pandan in everything, I say! Especially good in ice cream made ahead for instant after-dinner treats, served with shortbread or Pandan Swiss Roll. If you don’t have pandan, try a couple of vanilla beans with 40 grams (1½ ounces) grated ginger root or store-bought stem ginger, finely chopped. 

 by Uyen Luu. Photographs by Uyen Luu. Published by Hardie Grant.

Pandan Ice Cream

At Camp Seafarer in North Carolina, there is no dessert that generates as much floor-stomping, hands-waving excitement as Oreo Pie. As I remember it, Oreo Pie was elaborate: a frozen filling piped with whipped cream and mohawked with cookie halves. In reality, as a current counselor reminded me, it's much simpler than that: a vanilla pudding set in an Oreo cookie crust, with crushed Oreos on top. Here, I make the pie as I remember it: A vanilla pudding (the recipe comes from 

's book!) lightened with whipped cream and flecked with Oreo crumbs is frozen in a cookie crust until you can take firm but creamy slices. I guarantee it will taste good—and even better if you spend 20 minutes cheering about it first.

Oreo Pie

One of my all-time favorite restaurants in New York (and really the world) is 

. The vegetarian-vegan fast-casual spot is known for their burgers, sandwiches, and a rotating cast of hyper-seasonal sides—but real fans know that their gelatos (and vegan sorbets!) can’t be missed. The flavors change weekly, sometimes daily, based on what’s available at the farmers markets—and in the cooks’ wildest imagination. Owner Brooks Headley has a reputation for pushing the norms for what a dessert can look like, often using savory kitchen scraps. One of the greatest examples of this is Superiority Burger’s tortilla gelato, which they bring into rotation every so often. This is an ode to the flavor of that gelato, using my go-to no-churn ice cream base—for those of us who live a bit too far from the restaurant to pop over for dessert. Toast salted, but not flavored, corn tortilla chips (I recommend using “restaurant-style” chips, especially the Mi Niña brand, but Tostitos will work, too) to bring out the corn’s nuttiness, then soak them in heavy cream. Whip that toasty corn-infused cream until stiff, then fold it into a no-churn ice cream base (sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt). Since no-churn ice cream lacks gelato’s stretchy chewiness, I added a super-simple tortilla chip brittle mix-in (or topping) for textural contrast and an extra-salty crunch. The resulting product is nearly irresistible, the kind of sweet-and-savory nirvana that will have you going back for bite after bite. Hot tip: this is also a great way to use up leftover or stale tortilla chips.

No-Churn Tortilla Chip Ice Cream

For better butter pecan ice cream, skip the ice cream machine, and double down on the butter and the pecans. Here’s the scoop (sorry, I couldn’t help it): You’ll melt some butter and toast a lot of pecans on the stovetop, for roasty flavor and crunchy crunch. (Make sure you stick them in the freezer as soon as they’re out of the pan, so they’re cooled down by the time you stir them into the finished ice cream base.) Next you’ll melt even more butter until it browns, intensifying in flavor and making your kitchen smell like the happiest place on earth. And while a classic no-churn ice cream template calls for condensed milk (sweetness, custardiness) and whipped cream (richness, airiness), we’re upgrading the latter component by throwing raw pecan pieces and cold heavy cream into a blender. The machine does all the hard work, yielding a whipped pecan cream that adds both cloudlike fluff and capital-P Pecan flavor to every bite. Now, about those other ingredients: Resist the temptation to skip the salt. It balances all the sweetness. And when you add the vanilla extract (pure is preferable), take a cue from my mom, who always lets the measuring spoon overflow just a bit. As I’ve learned from 

, it’s hard to overdo the vanilla in just about any dessert, and especially here.

No-Churn Butter Pecan Ice Cream

This dessert is inspired by my favorite morning beverage, cardamom coffee. Whether I’m making espresso, cold brew, or an iced latte, I’ll always find a way to sneak in a couple of cardamom pods. There’s just something special about this combo. Semifreddo—“half-frozen” in Italian—is a luscious dessert with a creamy-dreamy texture, often compared to a frozen mousse. Mine hinges on custard and whipped cream, and it takes less than 15 minutes to assemble. Once you understand the science behind it, you’ll easily be able to play around with your favorite flavors. In most frozen desserts, air plays a huge role: Custard typically gets churned in an ice cream machine, which incorporates air and forms tiny ice crystals. The smaller the ice crystals, the creamier the frozen dessert. What makes semifreddo so special is the incorporation of air 

 the freezing process begins, thanks to whipped cream. Great news for us, since that means there won’t be any special equipment needed. Think of it like a no-churn ice cream, but even better. Another thing we don’t need to worry about when it comes to semifreddo is iciness. A high water content will make any frozen dessert hard as a rock. Luckily, we’re working with two very rich elements: heavy cream and a yolk-based custard. Together, they create the most decadent, silky texture. The semifreddo won’t need much time to thaw before serving—it should be scoopable as soon as it comes out of the freezer. If you plan on serving by the slice, gently warm up the sides of the loaf pan with warm water or a blowtorch, then it’ll slide right out. Serve on a cold or a frozen plate.

Coffee Cardamom Semifreddo

The inspiration behind this ice cream sandwich -- the idea that you can bake between two layers of crackers -- comes from Donna Hay's cracker cheesecake.  Once you can bake between crackers, why not add a layer of ice cream, too?

Saltine Cracker Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich

What’s not to love about blondies and ice cream? Packed tight in a cooler for travel, these make the perfect picnic food. Just make sure the finished sandwiches are well frozen before serving.

Blondie Ice Cream Sandwiches

This dessert is true frozen bliss. The recipe has been in my family for years. We compare all other desserts against it, and nothing, ever, has measured up. I make this all-year long, but it's especially great in the summer because it's quick and easy to assemble (no baking required) and feeds a crowd. 

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