Recipe for Baked Alaska "This dessert, usually available only in the 'best' restaurants, is actually no more than cake and ice cream covered with meringue and browned quickly in a hot oven." Sure when you phrase anything in one sentence it can seem super simple, right?! A Brief History of Baked Alaska In 1802, Thomas Jefferson was the first to serve ice cream at a banquet at the White House. Remember he is also the same president who served mac and cheese at a state dinner. It was at this same dinner that he also also reported to have served ice cream in a hot pastry that would be similar to a Baked Alaska. Omelette Surprise was reportedly first invented by Benjamin Thompson Rumford. This was very close to our modern recipe for Baked Alaska. In 1855, the cookbook The Philadelphia Housewife , contained a recipe for Baked Alaska Apple Pie. In 1867, to commemorate the United States purchase of Alaska from Russia, Chef Charles Ranhofe...