Baked Snowballs

Baked Snowballs
Pound cake or cookies
6 scoops of favorite ice cream
3 egg whites at room temperature
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
¼ c. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Chocolate syrup
Sprinkles
Maraschino cherries

1. Place a slice of cake or broken up cookies in bottom of small oven-proof ramekins, pressing them into the bottom of each. Fill each ramekin with ice cream, using the back of a spoon to smooth it level at the top. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet in the freezer while you prepare the snow (meringue).

2. Heat the oven to 500°. Place the egg whites in a medium-size bowl and whip them with an electric beater set at medium-high speed until they resemble foam. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. While you continue beating, add the sugar 1 tbs. at a time and then the vanilla extract. Continue beating until shiny, stiff peaks form. This should take approximately 2 minutes.

3. Remove the ramekins from the freezer and spread the snow meringue over the top of each with a spatula, taking care to completely cover the ice cream. This “blanket of snow” is what insulates the ice cream, keeping it cold in the hot oven. Bake the snowballs on the cookie sheet until the tops are golden brown. This should take approximately 1 to 3 minutes. Watch desserts carefully as they brown quickly. Garnish the snowballs with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and cherries. Yields 6 servings.