Masterchef UK Professionals
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Baked Alaska with Peaches
Kieran, a 28-year-old sous chef from Glasgow, had never made or eaten a baked Alaska before. He poached the peaches well with vanilla and alcohol, achieving lovely flavours. However, he added too much cream to his ice cream, making it taste more like cream than peaches. His poached peaches were left too long in the warm liquor and not cooled fast enough, contributing to a soft, melty ice cream. He aimed to take his sugar to 131°C for the Italian meringue - significantly higher than Nikita's 118-121°C benchmark - and his meringue was not whipped long enough, resulting in a loose texture lacking body. Despite these issues, he completed all processes and presented an assembled dish.
{Nikita}: "I'm a bit concerned that the ice cream is maybe a little bit soft, but you know, you got through all the processes."
{Nikita}: "You've poached the peaches really nicely. They've got lovely flavours of the wine and bit of vanilla in there. But the ice cream, for me, it does sort of just taste more like cream rather than peaches because you did put quite a lot in there and the things were a little bit melty, a little bit warm."
{Marcus}: "You haven't fully whipped your Italian meringue, so it hasn't got the body and texture that you're looking for. But overall, organised, tidy together. Need a bit more speed and a bit more thinking about the processes."
{Matt}: "For a guy who's never eaten or made a baked Alaska, I thought you handled that well."
{Monica}: "I think Kieran is quite competent."
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