No, this igloo-shaped dessert — cake, and ice cream shrouded in toasted meringue — didn't come from the icy north, but its name was inspired by the land deal. The treat's true roots date back to the turn of the 18th century when American-born scientist Sir Benjamin Thompson (aka Count Rumford, a title he gained for his loyalty to the crown during the American Revolution) — whose inventions included a kitchen range and a double boiler — discovered something about egg whites. Rumford realized that the air bubbles inside whipped egg whites made Meringue a great insulator. "That's really why Baked Alaska works," says Libby "O'Connell, the History Channel's chief historian and author of The American Plate. "The meringue insulates the ice cream from heat."

Source: NPR