Easy Baked Alaska

Preheat oven to 450°. Toast ½ cup raw pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, then coarsely chop. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Mix nuts, 3 Tbsp. light or dark brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. honey, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl with your hands to evenly distribute (mixture will be clumpy and sticky). Scatter over reserved baking sheet and bake until deep golden brown and bubbling, about 4 minutes. Let cool, then break brittle into small pieces. Do ahead: Brittle can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Bring 1½ lb. fresh raspberries (about 4 pints), ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar, and ¼ cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook, stirring and scraping down sides of pan occasionally and mashing berries, until slightly thickened, 10–12 minutes. Transfer to a blender; purée. Let cool slightly. Rinse out saucepan.

Whisk raspberry purée, 4 large egg yolks (save the whites for making the meringue), ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar in saucepan to combine. Set over medium heat; cook, stirring and scraping sides and bottom of pan often with a heatproof rubber spatula, until slightly thickened and glossy (it shouldn’t bubble), about 5 minutes. Add 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces, a piece at a time, stirring after each addition until melted and combined before adding more. Strain curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl; discard solids. Let cool. Do ahead: Curd can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Line a 9"–10"-diameter bowl with a 10-cup capacity (10 cups water should fill or come within 1" of rim) with plastic wrap, leaving generous overhang on all sides. Mix 2 pints vanilla ice cream, softened in refrigerator 20 minutes, and brittle in a medium bowl to evenly distribute brittle. Scrape mixture into prepared bowl; smooth into an even layer. Pour half of cooled curd over; smooth into an even layer. Freeze until set, at least 1 hour. Cover and chill remaining curd in fridge.

Meanwhile, preheat oven temperature to 350°. Lightly coat a 9"-diameter cake pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray, then line with a parchment paper round and lightly coat parchment with nonstick spray. Whisk 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar in a large bowl. Drizzle in 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Drizzle in 1 cup water; whisk until batter is smooth. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth surface.

Bake cake until golden brown at edges and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25–30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cake cool in pan 10 minutes. Run a knife around sides to loosen; invert cake onto rack. Let cool completely.

Scoop 2 pints pistachio ice cream, softened in refrigerator 20 minutes, on top of curd in bowl from freezer; smooth into an even layer. Pour remaining chilled curd over ice cream; smooth into an even layer. Set cake, upside down, on top and wrap plastic over cake; freeze at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat 4 large egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. With motor running, beat in remaining ½ cup (100 g) sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time; beat until meringue is thick and glossy, about 3 minutes. Beat in remaining 1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Invert bowl with baked Alaska onto a heatproof platter if torching or a baking sheet if broiling; rub bowl to warm slightly to help loosen. Carefully remove bowl, tugging at plastic wrap; peel away plastic. Spoon meringue over cake and spread, swirling decoratively, to cover. Freeze at least 10 minutes if torching or at least 30 minutes if broiling and up to 1 hour.

Toast meringue until browned with a kitchen torch or heat a broiler and bake until golden brown on top, about 3 minutes. Do ahead: Cake can be baked 1 day ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.