FRESH CHERRIES JUBILEE

By jarren

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh sweet ripe cherries
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup Kirsch or Grand Marnier (optional)
• Lightly whipped cream (optional)
• Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Reserve four perfect-looking cherries with their stems on. Remove and discard the stems from all of the remaining cherries and inspect the cherries to remove and discard any damaged or moldy ones. With a cherry pitter, remove the pit from each of the cherries. Discard the pits and set the pitted cherries aside in a bowl.

Scoop the vanilla ice cream attractively into four serving bowls. Put the bowls in the freezer.

In a medium sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle in the sugar and stir until it combines with the butter and begins to melt. Continue cooking the syrup until it begins to take on a little light golden color, one to two minutes more.

Add the pitted cherries to the pan along with any juices that have collected in the bowl. Sauté the cherries, stirring frequently, just until they begin to soften and give up some of their juices, three to four minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Remove the bowls of ice cream from the freezer.

If you would like to flambé the Cherries Jubilee, carefully sprinkle the Kirsch or Grand Marnier over the sautéed cherries. Light a long wooden kitchen match or fireplace match. Keeping the match and the sauté pan safely clear of any flammable objects, carefully hold the burning tip of the match just above the surface of the pan’s contents to ignite the vapors.

While the blue flames are still visible in the pan, carefully spoon or ladle the cherries and their sauce over the ice cream in each bowl and present the bowls to guests. As soon as the flames vanish, top each serving with a dollop of the whipped cream, if you like, and garnish each serving with a reserved stem-on cherry and a mint sprig.