GABRIELLE CAKES RECIPES

Baked alaska is a real toil, no doubt — you have to attend to the cake, the ice cream and the meringue, in the same way a mason lays stone. But there is plenty of opportunity for fun and flourish once the foundation is secure: You can divide the meringue among several pastry bags with varying sized tips to make dramatic and interesting variegated patterns of piped meringue. You can play with the shape of the cake by freezing the semifreddo in a coffee drip cone or a large-format flexible ice cube tray. And when you toast the meringue with a kitchen torch, you can hold the flame near and far, lingering in spots and moving briskly in others, to create extra drama and eye appeal. Try spooning flaming kirsch down its slopes. If you want to go even further, try replacing the white sugar with brown sugar in the meringue for a sophisticated pale-beige meringue that contrasts beautifully when toasted just to golden. Or see what you think of the results using other decorative colored sugars — keeping in mind, though, that after all that work down on your knees laying stone, you want to look up at a cathedral, not Fudgie the Whale!

Provided by Gabrielle Hamilton

Total Time 9 hours 45 minutes

Yield 16 servings

Number Of Ingredients 17

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : @context http//schema.org, Calories 429, UnsaturatedFatContent 9 grams, CarbohydrateContent 57 grams, FatContent 21 grams, FiberContent 1 gram, ProteinContent 6 grams, SaturatedFatContent 11 grams, SodiumContent 73 milligrams, SugarContent 49 grams, TransFatContent 0 grams

Like many Nebraskans, the poet Erin Belieu’s family members use any large gathering as a pretext for serving prime rib. Thanksgiving is no exception. When Ms. Belieu, a fourth-generation Nebraskan, was growing up in Omaha, her family served prime rib alongside the turkey — until they realized no one really liked the bird and dispensed with it altogether. Her grandfather was a cowboy, and the whole family was steeped in the state’s ranching culture, even when they eventually moved to the city. In her house, the beef was minimally seasoned and roasted in a hot oven until the exterior was crackling and browned, the inside juicy and red. A little horseradish sauce might be served on the side, but her father always disapproved. Good beef doesn’t need it. “He thought sauce was for drugstore cowboys,” she said.

Provided by Melissa Clark

Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Yield 8 to 12 servings

Number Of Ingredients 7

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : @context http//schema.org, Calories 730, UnsaturatedFatContent 30 grams, CarbohydrateContent 0 grams, FatContent 63 grams, FiberContent 0 grams, ProteinContent 37 grams, SaturatedFatContent 26 grams, SodiumContent 527 milligrams, SugarContent 0 grams