Slow Cooker_ The Best Cookbook Ever - Diane Phillips [177]
serve the sauce warm over bread pudding, or let cool completely and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
makes about 3 cups
Cherries Jubilee Lava Cake
As a child, sitting in a fancy restaurant, when I saw the waiter pulling up to the table with a chafing dish on a cart, I knew one of two desserts was coming my way: crepes suzette or cherries jubilee. The brandy-flamed cherries, bathed in a spiked buttery sauce and served over vanilla ice cream, were my reward for not asking “Are we done yet?” I’ve taken that delicious dessert one step further by adding chocolate cake and sauce. The cherries bake underneath the hot fudge cake. Make sure to serve this with good-quality vanilla ice cream.
CHERRIES
Two 16-ounce bags frozen unsweetened pitted sweet cherries, defrosted and drained
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons brandy or Grand Marnier
CHOCOLATE CAKE
½ cup milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder (make sure to use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1¼ cups boiling water
coat the insert for a 3½- to 4-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Add all the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and brandy to the slow-cooker insert and stir to combine.
stir together the milk, butter, and vanilla bean paste in a mixing bowl. Gradually stir in the granulated sugar, flour, ¼ cup of the cocoa powder, and the baking powder.
spread the batter evenly over the cherries in the slow-cooker insert. Mix together the brown sugar and remaining ¼ cup cocoa powder in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the batter. Pour in the boiling water (do not stir).
cover and cook on high for 2 hours, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Uncover and allow to cool for about 20 minutes.
serve spooned from the slow cooker, so the cherries are a surprise resting on top of the cake.
serves 4–6
Acknowledgments
No one writes a book by themselves, and writing this book was much like the recipes in it; a long slow simmer, with lots of ingredients to add salt and spice to the dish. I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize my amazing agent Susan Ginsburg, who not only leaps tall buildings in a single bound, but she’s also a great girl friend, listening and giving good advice on all subjects; thank you, Susan, I am so grateful for all that you do for me. Susan’s assistant Bethany Strout has kept me sane with the details and answering myriad random questions.
At Chronicle, a huge thanks you to Bill LeBlond for taking me into the family and steering this book on its path. Thanks also to my editors Amy Treadwell who guided me through the first half and Sarah Billingsley who has ably shaped and continued provide great suggestions for the finalized manuscript. Great thanks also to Barbara Otterhoff for copyediting, and Randy Mon for the terrific food styling, and James Baigrie for the beautiful photographs. Thanks also to David Hawk and Peter Perez for their terrific marketing and publicity suggestions; it’s a pleasure to work with you two! To Doug Ogan, Beth Steiner, Michael Morris, Rachel Pedersen and all the other hard-working people at Chronicle, a toast for your terrific work!
I would like to thank the manufacturers who sent me their machines to test the recipes. Lisa Callaghan at All-Clad was nothing but supportive when she heard about my project and provided me opportunities to demonstrate the All-Clad slow cooker, for which I am grateful. Thanks to Cuisinart and the team at Rachel Litner Associates who provided the Cuisinart machine for testing and were gracious in sending me supplemental materials, and thank you to Kim Roman at Digitas, and KitchenAid for the use of their machine in testing.
My family and extended family have