THE INSTANT POT® DESSERTS COOKBOOK Photographs Erin Scott CONTENTS Introduction 7 Instant Pot® Primer 9 Instant Pot® Tips for Desserts 10 Recipes 12 Index 53 Cinnamon-Sugar Monkey Bread (page 31) Introduction The Instant Pot®, which debuted in 2009, quickly became a wildly popular countertop kitchen appliance, winning millions of enthusiastic 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 this whisper-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 too often produces a sunken or cracked 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. 7 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. 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. 9