Christmas Tree Bombe Alaska by Alisha Henderson of Sweet Bakes @sweetbakes_ for CSR Sugar and White Wings

"A bombe alaska is, believe it or not, one of the first desserts I made when I was about 10 years old. I marched home from school and decided to 'wow' my parents on a weeknight and serve it up for dessert. It was an ambitious move, so I thought I best up my game all these years later and make the most spectacular festive version I could. Although it requires some patience, it is an absolute showstopper that brings a whole new level of fun and theatre to Christmas Day!"

Baking time:
Allow two days to create this recipe.
Can be done up to a week in advance.

Ingredients:
Sponge cake:
270g White Wings Plain Flour
35g White Wings Cornflour
2 tsp baking powder
330g CSR Caster Sugar
230g soft butter
4 room temperature eggs
1/2 cup room temperature milk
1 tbsp vanilla

Ice cream:
4 litres churned or store bought vanilla ice cream
Rosewater Essence

200g frozen or fresh raspberries
100g crushed pistachios
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Pavlova:
White Wings Pavlova Magic
1 x ice cream cone

To flambé:
100ml of brandy

To serve:
Dust of CSR Icing Sugar or CSR Coffee Sugar Crystals

Equipment:
1 x 30cm Croquembouche tin - or use a manilla folder wrapped into a cone shape.
Star piping tip
Piping bags
11" Square cake tin or sheet tray
Long safety match or extended lighter
Stand or hand mixer with whisk attachments

Method:
1. In a bowl fitted with whisk attachment, place all dry ingredients and soft butter, beat for 1 minute until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. In a small bowl combine wet ingredients. Add half of this to dry ingredients and beat for 1 minute. Add remaining wet mixture and beat for 1.5 minutes until fluffy.
3. Line the base and sides of an 11' square cake tin with baking paper and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes. Hack tip: You can also use White Wings Vanilla Cake Mix in place of this. 4. Once the cake has cooled, place the base of the croquembouche tin on the sponge and cut out a circle of this size. Flip it so the pointy side is down and cut a circle of this smaller size.
5. Take ice cream out of the freezer to soften for 20 minutes.
6. Take approx. 3 ltr and mix in 200g frozen raspberries and 3tsp of rosewater. Take 1lt of ice cream and stir in crushed pistachios and shredded coconut (add some green food dye to enhance the colour).
7. To assemble - line the entire cone tin with glad wrap. Place in the small sponge circle at the tip. Take the raspberry ice cream and smear into tin all along the sides in a thick coating. Fill the centre hole with the pistachio ice cream, and smooth out the base. Take the large sponge and press into tin. Place in the freezer for at least 24 hours (or up to a week).
8. When it's time to de-mould your ice cream, place a warm towel over the tin to warm gently. Flip the tree out onto your serving plate, pop back into the freezer to re-firm.
9. To prepare the pavlova, use White Wings Pavlova Magic and follow instructions on the packaging.
10. Take 2 small scoops of pavlova and place them in 2 separate bowls. Tint the majority of the mixture green for the tree base. In the two small bowls, dye one yellow and one red.
11. Take your tree out from the freezer and use a piping bag fitted with a star piping tip, and work from bottom to top to pipe the tree. If you feel that it is melting, place it back into the freezer in intervals. Stick the ice cream cone on the top of the point with a smear of pavlova to secure.
12. Use a piping bag with a small end cut off to pipe red and yellow baubles. If they get a spike on the end, dip your finger in some water and smooth the pavlova bauble out.
13. Place back into the freezer until ready to serve.
14. Upon serving - slightly warm (do not overheat!) 100ml of brandy in a small saucepan. Using a long safety match or long lighter, wave the flame over the saucepan to ignite it. Wow guests by pouring brandy over the tree, to flambé it!
15. To finish, dust CSR Icing Sugar or CSR Coffee Sugar Crystals for a little sparkle! Serve immediately by cutting into wedge portions.

Hack: Instead of individually piping the pavlova, you can smear it all over the tree