18 years ago, I tore out a recipe for Baked Alaska from the August 26, 2002 issue of Saveur Magazine. It’s a classic dessert where ice cream is baked in a hot oven – insulated by sponge cake and meringue.  It’s best known as the dessert that cruise ships often serve with sparklers on top on the last night at sea. 

This past week for my wife’s birthday, I finally cooked it. I hit a few “speed bumps” in making it – but in the end it worked and was INCREDIBLE. We laughed as we ate it – wondering what took me so long to cook it. Frankly I’d been scared of making it as the recipe looked challenging. I mean think about it – imagine what could happen putting 2 pints of ice cream in a 450 degree oven.

I laughed again when cleaning up my office and found various “quotes” on the importance of JUST DOING IT – Just GETTING UP AND GETTING GOING that I had never included in a blog. 

So – this week – here are the quotes – and my rewrite of the Saveur recipe – so to help you not make some of the mistakes I made. I look forward to seeing photos of how your Baked Alaska comes out :). 

“We build things quickly and ship them.  We get feedback. We iterate, we iterate, we integrate. We have these great winds around: “Done is better than perfect.”

-Sheryl Sandberg Facebook COO

“We’ve invested in building up the infrastructure, tools and culture that tells people to take risks. That gives us the ability to build stuff quicker – this will be a big advantage for us over the long term.”   

-Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO

“I think bad radio is when you don’t change it up.”

–Howard Stern Sirius Radio Host

“There is really no secret to our approach. We keep moving forward. We are always exploring and experimenting. We call it imagineering.”

-Walt Disney

“For every great song of mine that has truly connected with people there are hundreds of bad ones. For every great live show, there are hundreds of train wrecks that helped me learn what worked and what didn’t. If you don’t know what you DON’T WANT TO BE, you’ll never become the person you do what to be.”  

-Lzzy Hale – Grammy Winning Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist

Baked Alaska (Serves 8)

INGREDIENTS

For FILLING

• To pints of your favorite ice cream
• 7 inch diameter bowl
• Plastic Wrap

For CAKE

• Butter and flour or Cooking Spray for pan
• 8 inch diameter cake pan
• 1/2 cup of cake Flour
• Pinch of salt
• 3 eggs separated
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
• Parchment Paper

For the MERINGUE

• 3 Egg Whites
• 2 pinches cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup of sugar

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1: Get your Ice Cream into the proper shape

The center of your Baked Alaska is Ice Cream – whatever flavor you desire. 

1. Line a 7 inch diameter bowl with plastic wrap up and over the sides.
   • (I didn’t do it – and had a challenge getting the ice cream out)
2. Add 2 Pints of Softened Ice Cream (your choice of flavor) smooth out the top
3. Freeze till hard – 3 to 5 hours depending on how soft it was

STEP 2: Bake the Cake that will be the Base of Your Baked Alaska

1. Heat oven to 325° F. 
2. Grease an 8″ round cake pan; (with butter and flour or cooking spray)
3. Mix flour and salt together in a bowl; set aside
   • 1/2 cup of CAKE FLOUR
   • 1/4 teaspoon of SALT
4. Separate 3 EGGS into YOLKS and WHITES – in separate bowls. 
5. In bowl with YOLKS beat on medium high speed with a hand mixer for a couple minutes.
   • Slowly add 1/2 a cup of SUGAR until fluffy
   • Add 1/2 teaspoon of GRATED LEMON ZEST and 1 tablespoon LEMON JUICE
6. In the bowl with EGG WHITES beat with clean beaters till stiff peaks form. 
   • Fold egg whites into yolk mixer with rubber spatula. Fold in flour mixture in 2 batches, taking care not to deflate batter. (It’s ok to feel stressed at this moment – I was.
7. Pour batter into pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean
8. Let pan cool then invert into rack – peel off and discard parchment. You can pause at this point till you are ready to serve. 

STEP 3: When Ready to Make & Serve – Make Meringue

1. Heat oven to 450° F. 
2. In a mixing bowl add the following:
   • 4 EGG WHITES
   • 2 pinches of CREAM OF TARTAR
3. Beat with Mixer on medium speed till Soft Peaks Form
4. Turn Mixer to HIGH – slowly add sugar
   • 1/2 cup of SUGAR
5. Beating till thick, shiny and stiff peaks form

STEP 4: Here we go – 

1. Put cake onto parchment lined baking sheet
2. Invert Ice Cream onto cake and peel off plastic
3. Cover Ice Cream and Cake with Meringue
   • BE SURE TO GET bottoms edges or you’ll have a “leak”
4. Bake until meringue begins to brown – about 4 to 6 minutes
5. Carefully transfer to a cake plate using two metal spatulas
6. Serve immediately and ENJOY

Enjoy,

Doug

What I’m thinking about this week is the need to release from “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” 

The past is past.  

It’s time to focus on the meaningfulness of THIS MOMENT.  

It’s time to focus on creating the TODAY and TOMORROW that is our calling. 

With the world filled with covid, it’s easy to embrace the blame game. It’s easy to hold onto what is wrong. It’s easy to become focused on what CAN’T WE DO – as opposed to what is possible. 

Challenging times, challenge thinkers to create great things. Major wars inspired innovators to invent Canned Food, Plastic Surgery, Microwave Ovens, Digital Photography, The Internet, Blood Banks and even Stainless Steel. 

To escape the mental distraction of politics, I’ve put my head down and am focusing on creating my future. I’m creating, testing, reinventing, testing, reinventing and shipping new ideas in both my personal and professional life. Some ideas work, most don’t, but success is not the point. Each win or loss makes me smarter as I create my future.

So what are you waiting for? Get Up! Get Out! Get Going! 

Cocktail Recipe – Vermont Maple Whiskey Sour

Sue and Tim Hogan gave me a bottle of pure and delicious Vermont Maple Syrup. Maple syrup is a great way to transform a summer whiskey sour into fall deliciousness:

• 1.5 ounces of Bourbon (Paddle Wheel being my favorite)
• 1 ounce of Fresh Lemon Juice (if too much try 1/2 ounce)
• 1 teaspoon to 3 teaspoons of Maple Syrup (or 1 tablespoon to 1/2 ounce)
• Pinch of cinnamon

Shake or stir all ingredients and strain into a glass with fresh ice. 

Cheers,

Doug 

I am captivated when I get see the sun rising in the morning. I am equally captivated when I get to see the moon rising in the evening.

Nearly every morning here on Prince Edward Island when I come down the stairs and see the  sun rising, I can’t stop looking at it. I watch the sunrise from the front porch and from the window in my office. I’m not sure why I love both of these experiences. 

For some reason, even through the sunset looks like a sunrise, it just doesn’t excite me as much. It might be because both offer a sense of hope and new beginning. 

They both bring light and energy to the darkness. They both make you look up from the here and now to a world of opportunities. Then again, they both go with beverages we make: sunrise with Brain Brew Coffee and moonrise with Brain Brew Whiskey 🙂

The photos were taken this past week within 10 hours of each other. They are shot looking east towards New London Bay from the front of our PEI Canada farmhouse. 

First Recipe This Week: Magical Lobster Butter 

Being in the land of great seafood, we have had fresh lobster this week thanks to our neighbors (Kent and Vera) who each got us lobster during our quarantine.

Based on some unscientific testing here’s my choice for the best lobster butter. 

Combine the following:

• Melted Butter
• A Big Squeeze of a Fresh Lemon for acidity
• A Splash of Absinthe or Pernod 

Next up, I’m going to try it on fish. 

Second Recipe This Week: Best Cocktail with Lobster 

My favorite drink to sip with lobster was what Dr. Deming used to have every Saturday night during is weekly lobster dinner. Being from Wyoming it was known by some as the Cowboy Martini or as the Deming Martini: 

The Deming Martini 

• Fill an old fashioned glass with ice
• Add 3 fingers of Gin (my current favorite with lobster is Hendricks Gin)
• Enjoy

As you may or may not know, Gin like Rum always has some sugar added.  Sometimes with London Dry Gin it’s very, very low sugar. With others, it can be quite a bit of sugar. 

Debbie and I can’t leave our property on Prince Edward Island, however, the property includes the Brain Brew Beach Bar land. This week we took Lexi with us and as the photo indicates, my wife and I saw the recent “warm weather” on Prince Edward Island differently.   

While the two of us agree on many things, it’s the differences between us that add spice and fun to living. 

Imagine how boring it would be to be with people who only think and act the same as you. 

Now, I do understand that it takes energy to deal with differences of opinion. And in today’s world, the stress people are feeling can deplete their energy reserves.

It seems to me that individual mindsets toward COVID are similar. Each person is on a different journey. They see the same news report that you see and it causes a different reaction within them. 

This is not a time for lectures about, “what is right and what is wrong.”   Heck – this is only the second one of these crazy things in 100 years! No one knows with certainty what the future will bring.

What it is – is a time for understanding and celebrating the wonderful diversity of people all around us. 

Together we will all get through this. 

Cocktail of the Week

My cocktail this week is a Classic Old Fashioned which is the drink I’m enjoying on the beach. I’ve become kind of fanatic about my Old Fashioned.

In a mixing glass (or shaker) with ice, add the following ingredients: 

• 2 oz of Bourbon, ideally Brain Brew’s Paddle Wheel Bourbon
• 1 teaspoon to 1/2 oz of Simple Syrup, my choice is 1 teaspoon
• 3 drops of Bitters (Aromatic or Orange), my choice is Brain Brew’s 1862 Aromatic Bitters

Next, stir for 20 revolutions and strain into another glass with one large ice cube in it. 

Enjoy! 

Doug

Nine days from now I will be less judgmental of Covid Restrictions than I was five days ago.  My wife and I are in Canada at our home on Prince Edward Island (PEI). PEI is a small province.  It has an amazingly low level of COVID infections.

Yes it’s an island and yes it’s a population that is unique (a conservative government ran for election once on implementing mandatory four bin sorting of trash to reduce waste and increase recycling and won with over 70% of the vote).  

PEI is a place I’ve come to for 53 years. This year it took almost a month to get all the approvals. Plus, we are required to go through a mandatory 14 day quarantine and it’s the real deal. We are called daily. They have fines that are SERIOUS and the community is in full support of the importance of quarantining.  

Being quarantined – not allowed to leave the property – not allowed to go to a store to get things for cooking a special recipe.  Not allowed to connect, even socially distanced with neighbors or even friends delivering food, is very frustrating.

However, as I jogged around the farm land in front of our house this morning, I came to the realization that while I may be frustrated because of what I can’t do, I actually should be embracing the positives around me.  

How amazingly beautiful the Island is. The photo above was taken this morning. 

How wonderful it is to have amazing friends who filled our refrigerator with food before we got here.  

How thoughtful it was for our neighbor across the street to leave two plates of Thanksgiving Dinner for when we arrived (Thanksgiving in Canada is in October).  

How great it is to have six different friends & neighbors reach out to help us get food or whatever we need – and they all really mean it.  

And most importantly, to be enjoying time with my amazing wife and our incredible dog Lexi. 

Yes, it’s time to savor the positives. 

Jimmy Buffet is the “Patron Saint” of the Beach Bar.

Bruce Springsteen is the “Patron Saint” of Brain Brew Custom Whiskey. 

In a recent interview in of all places, AARP Magazine, Bruce spoke about where he gets his inspiration:

“You have your antenna out,” he says. “You’re just walking through the world and you’re picking up these signals of emotions and spirit and history and events, today’s events and past remembrances. These things you divine from the air are all intangible elements: spirit, emotion, history. These are the tools of the songwriter’s trade before he even picks up the pen. My antenna is picking up so much information, I need to find a way to disperse it. So, I needed to learn a language that does that. And the languages of art, film, records, whatever you want to call it—all those languages do that. And you get to pass it on to your listeners or fans. That’s how it begins.” 

Our research on creativity finds that Bruce has it right. We call it stimulus mining.   

Basically, creativity comes from filing your brain with sights, sounds, emotions and experiences. Then, your brain assembles and reassembles the stimulus resulting in a new thought, idea or insight. 

Our challenge in today’s chaotic world is taking the time to stop and savor the wonder around us. We need to enjoy this unique moment in time for what it is. 

This morning on my jog abound the Beach Bar Lake, I stopped and saw a beautiful morning sight of the moon setting as the sun rose behind me.  

I’ve found that capturing the wonder requires a curious mind. It means taking the time to really listen to others – to understand what they are saying and why. It means looking under the rock or log not just at the surface view.    

It means giving voice to “what if…” and then taking action on the “what if…”

My Cocktail this week  is This World’s Greatest Sazerac

I’m often asked what my favorite cocktail is? My answer depends on my mood at the time. It also depends on the time of year. In the summer, I love Mint Juleps and the Whiskey Smash. Come fall, I love a Sazarac – one of earliest cocktails ever. 

My recipe came from a WHAT IF ….

In this case I took two cocktail legends Sazerac recipes and put them together. 

The base recipe came from Dale Degroff who I’ve written of before. It involves a mixture of Cognac and Rye. The twist on it comes from the book Speakeasy – from one of the world’s top cocktail bars – Employees Only in NYC.  PLEASE if in NYC, make the journey it is well worth it. They’ve created an amazing absinth bitters that is sprayed on the sides of the glass before making the cocktail.  

To make the absinth bitters, combine the following ingredients:

• 3 Cups of Pernod Absinth
• 1/2 cup Green Chartreuse
• 1 teaspoon Peychaud’s bitters
• 1 teaspoon Angostura bitters
• 2 tablespoons Fee Brothers mint bitters. 

Once combined, fill a spray bottle with the bitters and place in the refrigerator. 

This World’s Greatest Sazerac Recipe

First, spray two to three sprays of the Absinthe Bitters on the inside of a rocks glass.

Next, add the following ingredients into the glass:

• 1 large ice cube (if you have it – other wise a collection of cubes) 
• 1 ounce of high quality Cognac (Dale suggests Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac which is awesome but hard to find. I’ve also found Remy Martin – 1738 Champagne Cognac works really well)
• 1 ounce of our Deckhand Rye 
• 1 teaspoon of Simple Syrup
• 3 Drops of our 1862 Bitters (or Peychaud Bitters)

Once combined, stir 20 times if you used smaller ice cubes or 40 times if you used a big ice cube.

Enjoy this World’s Greatest Sazerac!!

Cheers,

Doug