Ph
otographs
Er
in Scott
C
OOKBOOK
INST
ANT POT
DESSERTS
®THE
CONTENTS
Introduction 7Instant Pot® Primer 9Instant Pot® Tips for Desserts 10
Recipes 12
Index 53
Cinnamon-Sugar Monkey Bread (page 31)
7
Introduction
The Instant Pot®, which debuted in 2009, quickly became a wildly popular countertop kitchen appliance, winning millions ofenthusiastic fans eager to praise its ability to cut cooking time, turn tough cuts of meat fork-tender, and cook such mealtime staples as beans and grains with just the press of a button. Master the basic functions of thiswhisper-silent, electric, programmable pressure cooker, its admirers say, and you can give away your pressure cooker, slow cooker, and rice cooker because the Instant Pot®can do everything they can—and more.
Sauté, stew, steam, pressure cook, slow cook—the Instant Pot®does them all for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And its versatility doesn’t stop at omelets, risottos, chilis, and other savory recipes. This indispensable pot also offers up a robust repertoire of dinnertime desserts and daytime sweets that rivals what’s possible with both conventional ovens and stove-top cooking. With just a couple of basic functions, you can cook a rich cheesecake in about a half hour, a sticky-sweet monkey bread in just over twenty minutes, and creamy rice pudding in less than five minutes.
What’s more, the Instant Pot®, with its smart sensors and precision timing, takes the guesswork out of “baking.”While a conventional oven toooften produces a sunken orcracked cheesecake and dry-crumbed cakes and sweet breads, the controlled steam of an Instant Pot® delivers silky-smooth cheesecakes and dense, moist cakes and breads every time. In the following pages, you’ll find a primer on how the pot works along with recipes for these sweet favorites and more. Armed with this knowledge, countertop cooking will become your go-to way for putting a brunch-time coffee cake or supper-time pots de crème on the table.
THE MODELS
The Instant Pot® is available in three sizes and in several models, each with different features and cooking programs. Each has slightly varying attributes, but all accomplish the same basic functions. The numbers in the model names, 50, 60, and 80, refer to the size of the pot, or 5, 6, and 8 quarts, respectively. If you're primarily cooking for four to six people, a model with a 6-quart capacity should be sufficient. The recipes in this book were developed in the Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen using the DUO60 Plus Instant Pot®. For best results, read all of the instructions that came with your Instant Pot® before you begin using it.
9
Instant Pot
®
Primer
Only two cooking programs are called for in this book, Pressure Cook (labeled Manual on some older models), which is equivalent to cooking in a pressure cooker, and Sauté, a non-pressure program that is used just once, to thicken a pudding. Here is how to use the Pressure Cook program:
• Put the food to be cooked into the pot as directed in individual recipes. In most cases, this involves either a steam rack with handles or a trivet (see page 10).
• Cover the pot with the lid, lock the lid in place, and turn the Steam Release handle (the valve) to Sealing.
• Press the Pressure Cook button and the digital display will light up. You now have 10 seconds to set the cook time indicated in the recipe using the - and + keys and to adjust the pressure level. All of the recipes in this book call for High pressure, which is the default setting.
• The pot will beep and the lighted display will indicate the cycle has started. At the end of the cycle, the pot will beep again and automatically end cooking.
• You can release the pressure in three different ways: natural, quick, or a combination. All the recipes in this book call for a natural release for a specified time, followed by a quick-release. When the display light goes off, carefully remove the lid.
HIGH ALTITUDE COOKING
If you are using the Pressure Cook program at 3,000 feet, you will need to increase cook times by 5 percent. For every 1,000 feet above 3,000 feet, increase cook times by an additional 5 percent: 10 percent at 4,000 feet, 15 percent at 5,000 feet, and so on.
10
Instant Pot
®
Tips for Desserts
Whether you’re making a soup or a cheesecake, the basic rules of Instant Pot® cooking apply. Here are simple guidelines—both dessert specific and general—to review before youget started.
• Cut or form ingredients—from pieces of dough to slices of fruit—into similar-size pieces so they cook evenly. Level batters in their pans for even cakes.
• Grease cake pans thoroughly for easy unmolding. Nonstick cooking spray works better than butter, as the milk solids in butter can encourage sticking.
• Cover cake pans and ramekins with aluminum foil to prevent condensation from the steam created under pressure from dripping onto your dessert.
• Cook time starts from when the pot reaches full pressure, not from the moment when the button was pressed. Building up and releasing pressure can take from a few minutes to a half hour or more, depending on what’s being cooked, its temperature, its volume, and the release method.
• Always wait until the float valve (pin) on the lid