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Back in my restaurant days, I used to do flambé table-side, and this was my second most requested item. Over the years I’ve perfected this recipe and really made this Cherries Jubilee my own! As a kid I was obsessed with cherry cordial. I wanted to bring those vibes into this dessert recipe, and let me tell you – warm cherries over cold, creamy ice cream topped with chocolate shavings do not disappoint!
Why You’ll Love Cherries Jubilee
This dessert is pure decadence in every bite, and it only takes 25 minutes. The caramelized cherries with a hint of orange go so well with the cold, creamy ice cream and shaved chocolate. This is a dessert that is delicious enough for company but also easy enough if you’re craving a sweet treat on a weeknight.
Table of Contents
Prep Your Cherry Dessert
Buy a Cherry Pitter – If you are a cherry fan, a cherry pitter makes it a lot easier to make this Cherries Jubilee, and it saves time.
Freeze your Chocolate – Make sure you pop your chocolate in the freezer before you start. This makes a big difference in clean shavings and not having melted chocolate in your hands.
Zest Before you Juice – Always zest your orange before you cut it. It’s a lot harder if you cut it first.
Prep for the Flambé – Clear the area around your pan. Make sure you turn your exhaust fan off before flambéing. It can pull the flames up. Stand back from the fire and wait for it to go out naturally.
Ice Cream Ready – Once the cherries are ready, they can wait in the pan for a bit. But you do need to serve immediately once you have topped it with ice cream.
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🔥Chef Nadia’s Tip🔥
- I use fresh cherries for this Cherries Jubilee dessert because they are in season. Frozen cherries work perfectly fine for this recipe.
- If you don’t have a cherry pitter, you can use a chopstick to push it out. You can even scoop it out with an opened paperclip.
Substitutions and Variations
Ingredient Swap
- Fresh Cherries → You can use frozen if cherries aren’t in season.
- Bourbon → If you’re not a bourbon fan, use your favorite liquor instead. Amaretto will give you a delicious nutty almond note. Rum with a tropical twist. Brandy has a warm depth.
- Vanilla Ice Cream → Vanilla is the traditional ice cream served with this dessert, but have fun with it. Pick whatever ice cream that sounds good.
- Luxardo Cherries → These cherries are amazing but expensive. You can use regular maraschino cherries instead.
Flavor Twist 🍒
- Spiced Cherries Jubilee → Add a cinnamon stick to the sauce while simmering. This is great, especially around the holidays for a festive variation.
- Maple Bourbon Cherries → Swap the brown sugar with maple for a sweeter taste.
The Perfect Pairings
Start your night off with a Milky Dirty Martini 🍸 Then move into your dinner with an amazing Boneless Prime Rib paired with a creamy Potato Puree and a fresh Butter Lettuce Salad. End your night this amazing Cherries Jubilee.
Cherries Jubilee: Questions Answered
This is a dessert that is best enjoyed right after cooking because the cherries are nice and warm and the sauce consistency is just right – you can let it sit in the pan for a little bit, but as soon as you are topping the ice cream it needs to be served. You can, however, prep the cherries, zest and juice the orange and do a lot of the prep work beforehand.
No, just lower your heat to medium and slowly pour the alcohol in. Let it simmer gently for 1-2 minutes, stirring, until the alcohol cooks off naturally.
Absolutely. I did fresh because they were in season, but frozen will work just fine.
Put the Cherries Jubilee sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Gently reheat it on the stovetop and serve over cold ice cream.
Cherries Jubilee
Equipment
- pan
- bowls
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ lb cherries
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tbsp brown sugar, adjust to taste
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 orange zest and juice of half, zest of all and juice of half
- ⅓ cup luxardo cherries, + 3 tbsp of the syrup
- 4 oz bourbon
- 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
- dark chocolate, to taste
- edible flowers, optional
Instructions
- Remove the pit from the cherries. Slice half of them in half, leaving the other half whole.
- Place the dark chocolate in the freezer (this makes it easier to shave later).
- Preheat a pan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the butter and let melt.
- Add the cherries, salt and sugar. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook the cherries until they start to caramelize, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, orange zest and juice. Continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add in luxardo cherries and syrup.
- Turn heat to high and then carefully pour in the bourbon. It may ignite – stand back and let the flames subside naturally.
- Once flame goes out, lower heat to medium. Simmer about 3-5 minutes until the mixture becomes syrupy.
- Add the cherries to a bowl and top with ice cream. Shave the chocolate over the top, add the edible flowers (optional) and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
