Baked Alaska Florida" in 1894, apparently referring to the contrast between its cold and hot elements. The dish is also known as an "omelette à la norvégienne" or "Norwegian omelette", which similarly refers to the cold climate of Norway. The dish is made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding, and topped with meringue. The entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot oven for a brief time, long enough to firm and caramelize the meringue. In 1969, the recently invented microwave oven enabled Hungarian gastrophysicist Nicholas Kurti to produce a
Floating island (dessert) Floating island (dessert) A floating island is a dessert of French origin, consisting of meringue floating on crème anglaise (a vanilla custard). The meringues are prepared from whipped egg whites, sugar, and vanilla extract then quickly poached. The crème anglaise is prepared with the egg yolks, vanilla, and hot milk, briefly cooked. There is some confusion about the name. In French cuisine, the terms œufs à la neige ("eggs in snow") and île flottante (floating island) are sometimes used interchangeably; the latter is the source of the English name. The difference between the two dishes is that "île flottante" sometimes