We’ll admit it: when we started writing this book, we had never once made any dessert in a slow cooker. Sure, we were schooled in the short rib curriculum, the chicken thigh program, even the shrimp seminar. But cakes? Or puddings?
We couldn’t figure it out. For one thing, most of these treats are not set-it-and-walk-away affairs, the way soups and braises are. Most get done in around 2 hours, maybe more quickly. So what’s the point? Why not make these things stovetop and in the oven?
Then we tested the first recipes: a buttery pudding, a steamed banana chocolate chip cake. Bingo: we knew what we’d been missing—ridiculously luxurious desserts that need a bit less fat than the old-fashioned recipes because of the way the moist environment under the lid protects them. The treat stays moist not because it’s larded with butter; it doesn’t dry out because of the way the appliance works.
We were hooked. We started taking slow cooker cakes just about everywhere we went: to book groups, to knitting classes, to social events. And our fare was always met with the same reaction: “From a slow cooker?” It seems we weren’t the only ones who didn’t know. So we invite you into the club. After an easy cobbler, a decadent lemon ricotta bread pudding, and an incredibly delicious dulce de leche, you’ll wonder why you didn’t join years ago.
A note up front: the stated cooking time in these recipes does not include an often mandatory cooling period, sometimes 2 hours, sometimes more. You can’t necessarily make a dessert and eat it the moment it comes out of the crock. Some cakes must condense to build structure; some puddings must continue to set. Read the recipe through completely before you begin, especially if you have easily disappointed, little faces at the counter, already eager with forks or spoons in hand.
At the end of this chapter, we’ve got another great reason to break out the appliance: mulled cider, hot cocoa and mulled wine, and with some pretty potent libations. The slow cooker is actually the perfect tool for creating these winter warmers: they stay at just the right temperature, no boiling over, no cooling off. Better yet, they can sit out all night at a party, the drinks ready for your guests as the night goes on.
So welcome to the treats, the things you probably shouldn’t make every day but just when you want them. Which may indeed be every day.
No, we can’t fashion a three-layer cake from a slow cooker. Or we shouldn’t. For that matter, we can’t make a proper sponge cake. But we can craft some pretty fine steamed puddings, more like ultra-moist cakes, all in the tradition of figgy pudding and other holiday desserts. And we can use that basic formula to bring back a slow cooker version of sticky date bread, popular when we were kids, almost always slathered in cream cheese and served at cocktail parties. Using the natural steaminess inside the canister, we can also turn out some pretty fudgy brownies as well as a very moist carrot cake. It’s all about going with what works. We have to take the machine’s capabilities and limitations in hand. Cheesecake? Great! Meringue layers for a dacquoise? Not so much.
Beyond that, we’ll insist on only one fussy step: mixing the dry ingredients together first in their own bowl, rather than dumping them one by one into a wet batter and stirring away. We want the leavenings—baking soda, baking powder—distributed throughout the batter, rather clumped in one spot. The latter leads to uneven, tilted cakes—and in fact even more dramatic ones than emerge from the oven, since the moist heat can speed up the chemical reactions that give cakes loft. So yes, you have to dirty another bowl. Isn’t cake worth it?
You’ll also need one specific tool beyond the slow cooker: a 1-quart, high-sided, round ceramic soufflé or baking dish. Yes, some batters can be scraped right into the slow cooker; but many need to be formed in this specialty dish—or need to be kept away from direct contact with the (relatively) hot walls. Look for this sort of baking dish at almost any kitchenware store or some online outlets. Don’t spend a fortune; get a sturdy baking dish to insulate the batter. The sides should also be about 3 inches tall so the batter can have some stability as it rises.
Cakes baked right in the slow cooker canister without this baking dish have a range of timings because of the varying shapes of cookers. A cake in a 4-quart narrow, round slow cooker will take a little longer than the same batter in a 5-quart wide, oval slow cooker. In all cases, the very center of the cake may not look set—however, if you touch it, you’ll realize the batter has indeed firmed up, despite a sheen on the cake’s surface. In oval cookers, the cake will not dome up but will be flat, even a little sunken at the center. Watch carefully: the sides will cook more quickly and so can dry out. As for all baking, even in a slow cooker, timings are mere suggestions. Your 6-quart is certainly different from our 8-quart. So pay attention to visual and physical cues more than stated timings. This chapter is the only one in the book where such detail matters—and it matters greatly.
You’ll also need a few, standard tools: a mixer, bowls, a rubber spatula, a wooden spoon. Nothing fancy is required for these recipes—no pastry bags or brushes. After all, these are slow cooker cakes and steamed puddings. We don’t have to go crazy. We just have to make them.
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
1 cup sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tblsp vanilla extract
¼ cup Nutella
4- TO 5½-QUART
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
1½ cups sugar
9 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ tblsp vanilla extract
6 tblsp Nutella
6- TO 8-QUART
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
2 cups sugar
12 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tblsp vanilla extract
½ cup Nutella
1 Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
2 Butter the inside of the slow cooker’s canister, then dust it with flour to coat the surface finely but evenly. Tap out any excess flour.
3 Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy and smooth, most of the sugar dissolved into the mix, 5 to 10 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Finally, beat in the vanilla.
4 Scrape down and remove the beaters. Fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula, just until there are no bits of dry flour anywhere. Remove and save ¼ cup batter for a small slow cooker, 6 tablespoons for a medium one, and ½ cup for a large one; spread the rest evenly in the slow cooker.
5 Stir the Nutella into the reserved batter in a small bowl. Dollop this mixture by tablespoonfuls over the top of the batter in the canister. Use the blade of a flatware knife to run into, through, and out of these blobs, thus swirling them into the batter below.
6 Lay long, overlapping strips of paper towel across the top of the cooker, then set the lid in place. Bake on high for about 2½ hours in a small slow cooker, about 3 hours in a medium one, or about 3½ hours in a large one, or until the cake is puffed and set to the touch. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 1 hour before setting a cutting board over the cooker, inverting everything, and releasing the cake onto the board. Remove the slow cooker and turn the cake right side up onto a platter to serve.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• You can skip buttering and flouring the canister if you’ve got baking spray on hand.
• Swirling in the Nutella mixture may well be the toughest part of this recipe. Insert the blade of the knife into the batter, then start moving it around, connecting the dots, as it were, moving back and forth among them as some of the chocolate mixture is dragged into the batter (and some of the batter is then dragged into the chocolate mixture).
• Inverting the cake is a tricky process, given all the upside down and right-side-up fandango. For large cakes in a large slow cooker, they may well split in half from their weight. Unless you’re deft at these maneuvers, and quite strong to boot, you might be wise to cut your losses and use a nonstick-safe knife to slice wedges of the cake right out of the cooker. If your slow cooker doesn’t have a removable insert, it may well be an impossible task anyway.
• This cake freezes exceptionally well. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then a second layer of aluminum foil and store in the freezer for up to 4 months.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW There’s no need to soften butter before making most batters. In fact, cool butter, cut into little chunks right out of the fridge, will trap and hold air bubbles more effectively than the loosey-goosey stuff you spread on bread. That said, if you have an old-model hand mixer, it might not handle cold butter; you’ll have to soften the butter for a few minutes before going at it.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED Nutella spread is a mixture of chocolate and ground hazelnuts with sugar, oil, and fat-free milk. It has been widely popular in Europe since the early ’60s and can be found near the jams or the peanut butter in almost all North American supermarkets.
2- TO 3½-QUART
6 tblsp (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
6½ ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¾ cup sugar
1 whole plus 1 yolk large eggs/yolk, at room temperature
½ tblsp vanilla extract
½ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for coating the canister
¼ tsp salt
4- TO 5½-QUART
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
9 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 whole large eggs/yolk, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
⅔ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for coating the canister
½ tsp salt
6- TO 8-QUART
12 tblsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
13 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1½ cups sugar
3 whole large eggs/yolk, at room temperature
1 tblsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for coating the canister
1 tsp salt
1 Generously grease the inside of the slow cooker canister by holding a small slice of butter with a paper towel and rubbing the butter all over the surfaces. Add some flour, then turn the crock this way and that to coat both the bottom and the walls with a fine, even dusting. Tap out any excess flour.
2 Set up a double boiler with about 1 inch of water in the bottom pan, simmering over medium heat—or place a large, heat-safe metal bowl over a medium saucepan with a similar amount of simmering water. Add the butter and both chocolates. Stir with a rubber spatula until about two-thirds of the chocolate has melted. Remove the top half of the double boiler or the bowl from the saucepan below, then continue stirring off the heat until all the chocolate has melted. Cool for 10 minutes.
3 Meanwhile, beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until quite thick and pale yellow, up to 10 minutes.
4 Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth, then scrape down and remove the beaters. Fold in the flour and salt with a rubber spatula, using wide, gentle arcs to make sure every speck of flour has been moistened. Pour and spread this mixture into the slow cooker.
5 Lay long strips of paper towels across the top of the slow cooker, overlapping each other and hanging down the sides for stability. Set the lid in place, then cook on high for about 1 hour 20 minutes in a small slow cooker, about 1 hour 40 minutes in a medium one, or about 2 hours in a large model, or until the cake is firm to the touch and the edges are dry while the middle is dark and moist. Unplug, uncover, and cool in the canister for 30 minutes before cutting out slices with a nonstick-safe knife or setting a cutting board over the cooker, inverting it, and turning the cake out.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Because of the way the slow cooker traps moisture inside, brownies come out fudgy, dense, and moist. The edges, however, will dry out a bit—and be a boon to those who like cakey brownies.
• When you’re melting chocolate over a double boiler, control the heat so the water below barely simmers. Too much steam can condense into the chocolate, causing it to seize—that is, break into threads and a thin liquid. If the chocolate seizes, there may be no help for it. Try stirring in a little cream to see if the mixture will cohere. You may have to start over, even with the best of intentions.
• Room-temperature eggs stabilize batters, building structure in tiny air pockets that create that vaunted crumb, the hallmark of good baked fare. To bring eggs to room temperature, leave them on the counter (but still in their shells) for 20 minutes, or immerse them (again, still in their shells) in a bowl of warm (not hot) tap water for 3 to 4 minutes.
• We also like these with a little kick from up to ½ teaspoon cayenne added with the salt.
SHORTCUTS Omit greasing and flouring the slow cooker and instead use baking spray, a mix of oil and flour.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED Good-quality chocolate is most often sold with a percentage on the label—55 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, and so on. The number refers to the percent of cocoa solids (the bitter chocolate stuff) as opposed to the sugar, cocoa butter, and certain stabilizers. As a general rule for this book, 40 to 55 percent is semisweet chocolate, 60 to 65 percent is bittersweet, and 70 to 85 percent is dark chocolate.
Milk chocolate is just that: chocolate with milk added to the mix. And unsweetened chocolate, sometimes called baking chocolate, has no (or in some brands, very little) sugar in the mix.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW For the best baked goods, beat and beat and beat the sugar and eggs. The more air you add, the more loft you’ll get. Yes, you can beat in so much air that the cake will not hold together when cut; but in general, beat until you think you’ve got a smooth, thick mixture—then beat it some more.
However, once you add the flour, stop beating altogether. Fold the flour mixture into most batters with a rubber spatula (yes, there are exceptions). Beating will elongate the flour’s glutens, resulting in tough, chewy cakes. Folding will hold off said elongation. Don’t overdo even the folding: work just until you see no more dry pockets. Some graininess from moistened but undissolved flour is expected—and encouraged.
2- TO 3½-QUART
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the crock
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into small bits
6½ tblsp unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
2½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into small bits
1 cup plus 2 tblsp sugar
⅓ cup sour cream (regular or low-fat)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
4- TO 5½-QUART
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the crock
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into small bits
10 tblsp (1 stick plus 2 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
3¾ ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into small bits
1⅔ cups sugar
½ cup sour cream (regular or low-fat)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tblsp vanilla extract
6- TO 8-QUART
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the crock
½ tblsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into small bits
13 tblsp (1 stick plus 5 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into small bits
2¼ cups sugar
⅔ cup sour cream (regular or low-fat)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ tblsp vanilla extract
1 Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
2 Butter the inside of the canister, then toss in a little flour and tilt the canister this way and that to coat the interior with a fine dusting. Shake out any excess flour.
3 Set up a double boiler over about an inch of slowly simmering water—or set a heat-safe metal bowl over a medium saucepan with a similar amount of simmering water. Add the dark chocolate, butter, and unsweetened chocolate; stir until about two-thirds of the chocolate has melted. Remove the top half of the double boiler or the bowl from the heat; continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Cool for 5 minutes.
4 Beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture with an electric mixer at medium speed, until creamy but dense. Beat in the sour cream until smooth, then beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Finally, beat in the vanilla before scraping down and removing the beaters.
5 Fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula just until there are no unmoistened bits of flour in the mix. Scrape and spread this batter into the slow cooker.
6 Lay long, overlapping strips of paper towels over the top of the slow cooker, hanging down over the sides. Set the lid in place and cook on high for about 1½ hours in a small slow cooker, about 2 hours in a medium slow cooker, or about 2½ hours in a large one, or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the cooker, the cake’s edges are higher than the middle, and that middle is darker and fallen a bit from its wet density but still a bit soft when touched. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 30 minutes. Afterwards, set a cutting board over the crock, turn it upside down, and release the cake before inverting it right side up on a platter.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• The tangy hit of sour cream will balance the chocolate perfectly in this fudgy cake. Once again, the edges will be slightly drier than the middle, so those who like the corners of the brownie pan will be in luck.
• If you’re using a standard double boiler, the upper pan may well be large enough that you can beat and fold the whole batter right inside it. Otherwise, you’ll need to scrape the melted chocolate mixture into a large bowl.
• If you jury-rig a bowl over a saucepan to create a double boiler, make sure (1) the bowl fits tightly so steam doesn’t escape and (2) the bottom of the bowl in no wise touches the simmering water below. Also, watch out when you remove that bowl; escaping steam can burn your fingers. Wear oven mitts, turn off the heat under the simmering water, and tilt the bowl up before taking it off the saucepan to release steam.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW Chopping the chocolate before melting it gives it a head start—and so less time over the heat with a smaller chance of scorching (and turning bitter) or seizing (and being rendered useless). The best chopping tool is a chocolate fork, its big tines designed to break through chocolate. However, you can also chop the chocolate on a cutting board with a heavy, sharp knife.
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ tsp salt
½ cup sugar
⅔ cup buttermilk (regular or low-fat)
3 tblsp fresh lemon juice
1 tblsp finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4- TO 5½-QUART
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk (regular or low-fat)
4½ tblsp fresh lemon juice
1½ tblsp finely grated lemon zest
6 tblsp all-purpose flour
6- TO 8-QUART
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp salt
1¼ cups sugar
1⅔ cups buttermilk (regular or low-fat)
½ cup fresh lemon juice
2½ tblsp finely grated lemon zest
½ cup plus 2 tblsp all-purpose flour
1 Generously grease the inside of the canister with unsalted butter, taking special care to get into the seam between the bottom and the wall.
2 Separate the eggs, putting the whites in one large bowl and the yolks in a second.
3 Add the salt to the egg whites and beat with an electric mixer at high speed until you can make soft, droopy peaks when you dip the turned-off beaters into the mixture. Set aside.
4 Clean and dry the beaters. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until the mixture is smooth and thick, about like a quick-bread batter, perhaps 4 minutes. Add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest; continue beating at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the inside of the bowl and add the flour. Beat at low speed just until smooth.
5 Use a rubber spatula to fold the beaten egg whites into the buttermilk batter. Use long, slow, smooth arcs to get the egg whites incorporated; but do not leave any lumps of undissolved egg white in the batter. If necessary, stir more vigorously after folding and press the lumps against the side of the bowl to dissolve them.
6 Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared slow cooker. Lay long strips of paper towels over the top of the slow cooker to cover it completely, then set the lid in place. Cook on low for about 55 minutes in a small slow cooker, about 1 hour in a medium one, or about 1 hour 10 minutes in a large slow cooker, until the top of the cake is set, a bit spongy, and puffed slightly in the center. Serve immediately, scooping up bits of the cake with the warm pudding that has formed underneath.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• This is a true pudding cake, a runny lemon curd underneath a spongy cake. If you underbake it slightly, as well you should, you won’t be able to cut it into pieces. Serve it by the spoonful.
• Because slow cookers work at varying temperatures, and even go out of whack over time, it’s important to watch this cake. A gooey mess is not called for—no underdone batter—but nonetheless a definite layer of pudding-ness underneath with a wet cake.
• Make sure the bowl with the egg whites is scrupulously clean and dry, without a whit of egg yolk in it. Otherwise, you’ll get little to no loft out of the whites when beaten.
• Here, the flour is actually beaten into the batter because we need that bit of gluten to create a good sponge cake over the curd.
• The serving sizes here are low. Unfortunately, more batter in the crock will not get done quickly enough, resulting in set edges and uncooked middles.
Serve It Up! Make Whipped Cream for dolloping! Chill a large bowl and beaters in the fridge for 30 minutes, then pour in heavy cream—as much as you like. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until slightly thickened, then start adding 1 tablespoon sugar for each ½ cup heavy cream you’ve used. Beat until just barely stiff, still saucy. Beat in a little vanilla extract and serve at once. (If you use confectioners’ sugar rather than standard white sugar, the whipped cream will hold its shape in the fridge for a couple of hours.)
FOR THE CAKE
2- TO 3½-QUART
1½ cups almond flour, plus more for dusting the canister
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
6 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
⅔ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup milk
3 tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 large egg yolks
1 tblsp vanilla extract
4- TO 5½-QUART
3 cups almond flour, plus more for dusting the canister
4 tsp gluten-free baking powder
12 tblsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
⅔ cup milk
6 tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large egg yolks
1½ tblsp vanilla extract
6- TO 8-QUART
4½ cups almond flour, plus more for dusting the canister
1½ tblsp gluten-free baking powder
18 tblsp (2 sticks plus 2 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup milk
½ cup plus 1 tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large egg yolks
2 tblsp vanilla extract
FOR THE TOPPING
2- TO 3½-QUART
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
3½ tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup hot tap water
4- TO 5½-QUART
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
7 tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup hot tap water
6- TO 8-QUART
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups hot tap water
1 Grease the inside of the slow cooker canister with some butter, then add a bit of almond flour that will coat the canister as you tip and twist it. Tap out any excess.
2 Whisk the almond flour and baking powder in a bowl; set aside.
3 Set up a double boiler over about 1 inch of simmering water of medium heat in the bottom pan—or put a heat-safe metal bowl on a medium saucepan with a similar amount of simmering water in it. Add the butter and chocolate, reduce the heat so the water simmers slowly, and stir until about two-thirds of the chocolate has melted. Remove the top half of the double boiler or the bowl from the heat and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Cool for 5 minutes.
4 Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then beat in the milk, cocoa powder, egg yolks, and vanilla.
5 Scrape down and remove the beaters. Add the almond flour mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until there are no dry pockets anywhere in the batter. Spoon and spread this mixture into the slow cooker.
6 To make the topping, place the brown sugar and cocoa powder in a small bowl; stir in the hot water until smooth. Pour this mixture over the batter in the cooker.
7 Cover and cook on high for about 1½ hours in a small slow cooker, about 2 hours in a medium one, or about 2½ hours in a large cooker, or until the cake has just begun to pull away from the sides of the cooker but is still very moist, even jiggly at the center. (It will look wet even when set.) If possible, remove the insert from the slow cooker. In any case, cool, uncovered, for 10 minutes; then scoop out by the large spoonful into bowls.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• You don’t even have to have a gluten allergy to enjoy this decadent dessert, somewhere halfway between a pudding and a cake.
• The cake won’t keep well, so plan on eating it when it’s still hot from the cooker.
• As with all cakes, remember that timings are a matter of suggestion, not a rule. They will differ slightly among shapes and sizes of slow cookers in each category.
• You might consider some whipped cream. Use granulated sugar to be sure it’s gluten free.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED Unsweetened cocoa powder comes in two forms: (1) Dutch-processed, with a darker color and an alkali in the mix to help it dissolve more readily and make the chocolate a tad lighter in taste (despite its darker color); and (2) natural cocoa powder, without said alkali in the mix, lighter in color but deeper in flavor, more bitter and sophisticated, like dark chocolate. Either type of cocoa powder will work for all these recipes; let your taste be your guide.
2- TO 3½-QUART
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
6 tblsp Walnut oil, plus more for greasing the canister
2 large eggs
¼ cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup packed grated carrots
6 tblsp finely chopped walnuts
4- TO 5½-QUART
2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
½ tblsp baking powder
½ tblsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1½ cups sugar
9 tblsp Walnut oil, plus more for greasing the canister
3 large eggs
6 tblsp unsweetened pineapple juice
½ tblsp vanilla extract
1½ cups packed grated carrots
9 tblsp finely chopped walnuts
6- TO 8-QUART
3¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
1 tblsp baking powder
1 tblsp ground cinnamon
1¼ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
2½ cups sugar
1 cup Walnut oil, plus more for greasing the canister
5 large eggs
⅔ cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1 tblsp vanilla extract
2½ cups packed grated carrots
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 Generously grease the inside of the slow cooker canister with some walnut oil dabbed onto a paper towel, then add some flour and tilt the canister to coat its sides and bottom. Knock out any excess flour.
2 Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until the cinnamon is even throughout. Set aside.
3 Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the sugar and oil in a large bowl until most of the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is fairly creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the pineapple juice and vanilla until smooth.
4 Remove the beaters and fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula, using gentle, long arcs to get the flour fully moistened, no dry bits anywhere. Fold in the carrots and walnuts; spread this mixture into the canister.
5 Lay overlapping lengths of paper towels over the top of the slow cooker. Set the lid in place and cook on high for about 2 hours 10 minutes in a small slow cooker, about 2 hours 20 minutes in a medium cooker, or about 2 hours 30 minutes in a large cooker, or until the cake is firm to the touch and set in the middle. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 1 hour; then slice pieces right out of the canister with a nonstick-safe knife or invert the cooker over a cutting board to release the cake before righting it on a serving platter.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Walnut oil adds a mellow richness to this cake—although you can use the far more tasteless canola oil for a more economical dessert.
• The cake is lighter than the standard carrot cake, not quite as dense.
• The good thing about greasing and then flouring the canister is that you can tell if there are any spots without oil—there’s no flour adhering to them. Grease the missing spots and add more flour (or just use a nonstick baking spray and be done with it).
Serve It Up! Since there’s no frosting on this cake, make a Cream Cheese Sauce: Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat 3 ounces room-temperature cream cheese with 5 tablespoons heavy cream in a bowl; beat in 1½ tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Drizzle on each piece—or make a puddle of it in the plate and “float” a piece of cake in it.
2- TO 3½-QUART
1 large moderately tart baking apples (such as Braeburn), cored, peeled, and chopped
½ cup plus 1 tblsp granulated sugar
¼ cup almond oil or canola oil, plus more for greasing the canister
1 whole large eggs
1 cup plus 3 tblsp all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp salt
2½ tblsp sliced almonds
1½ tsp packed dark brown sugar
4- TO 5½-QUART
3 medium moderately tart baking apples (such as Braeburn), cored, peeled, and chopped
¾ cup granulated sugar
6 tblsp almond oil or canola oil, plus more for greasing the canister
1 whole plus 1 yolk large eggs
1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup sliced almonds
2 tsp packed dark brown sugar
6- TO 8-QUART
3 large moderately tart baking apples (such as Braeburn), cored, peeled, and chopped
1 cup plus 2 tblsp granulated sugar
½ cup almond oil or canola oil, plus more for greasing the canister
1 whole plus 1 white large eggs
2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ tblsp baking powder
1¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup sliced almonds
1 tblsp packed dark brown sugar
1 Dab some oil on a paper towel and thoroughly grease the inside of the slow cooker canister.
2 Whisk the apples, granulated sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set aside for 15 minutes to macerate.
3 Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a second bowl. Stir the dry mixture into the apple mixture until there are no pockets of undissolved flour visible.
4 Spread the batter into the slow cooker canister; sprinkle the top with the sliced almonds and brown sugar.
5 Lay long, overlapping strips of paper towel over the top of the slow cooker; set the lid in place. Cook on high for about 3 hours in a small slow cooker, about 3½ hours in a medium one, or about 4 hours in a large cooker, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 2 hours, until the top is dry and the cake is room temperature. Set a cutting board over the canister, invert the whole thing, and turn the cake out before setting it right side up on a serving platter.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• By letting the apples sit with the sugar and oil, they begin to release their moisture, a necessary part of the cake’s success.
• Crumble the brown sugar grains between your fingers so you get the best coverage over the cake’s top.
• A nut oil tastes best in this cake; we chose almond oil to match the topping. Of course, if you don’t want to spring for a nut oil, you can always use canola oil.
• Unfortunately, this cake doesn’t freeze very well. Store it, sealed in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 2 days.
2- TO 3½-QUART
¾ cup plus 2 tblsp all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
6 tblsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
6 tblsp packed light brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup, preferably grade B
1 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
4- TO 5½-QUART
1¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
12 tblsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup maple syrup, preferably grade B
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ tblsp vanilla extract
½ cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
6- TO 8-QUART
2⅔ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
1¼ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
18 tblsp (2 sticks plus 2 tblsp) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
1 cup plus 2 tblsp packed light brown sugar
¾ cup maple syrup, preferably grade B
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2½ tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 Use some butter to grease the inside of the slow cooker. Add some flour, tilt the canister to coat it in a fine dusting, and tap out any excess flour.
2 Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
3 Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until creamy and even a bit fluffy, almost no undissolved sugar in the mix. Beat in the maple syrup until smooth, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Finally, beat in the vanilla.
4 Scrape down and remove the beaters. Add the flour mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula just until all the flour has been moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape and spread this batter evenly in the slow cooker.
5 Lay overlapping lengths of paper towels over the top of the slow cooker, with excess hanging over the sides. Set the lid in place, then cook on high for about 1 hour in a small slow cooker, about 1 hour 15 minutes in a medium cooker, or about 1 hour 40 minutes in a large model, or until the cake is puffed and set to the touch. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 1 hour. If desired, set a cutting board over the canister, invert everything, and shake gently to dislodge the cake; remove the canister, then set the cake right side up on a serving platter or another cutting board.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Dense and somewhat chewy, this cake gets most of its flavor from the maple syrup—which should be a very dark grade for the best punch.
• Use bittersweet chocolate chips for a more elegant flavor, a tad acidic against the sweet cake.
• This cake freezes well when wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Unwrap and thaw on the counter for 3 or 4 hours before serving.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED In baking recipes, sugar can mean granulated white sugar or either light or dark brown sugar. In keeping with standard recipe practice, if we merely ask for sugar, then we’re talking about granulated sugar. That said, if we use two types of sugar in a recipe, we name them both. And if we call for just brown sugar, we specify either light or dark.
2- TO 3½-QUART
½ cup plus 1 tblsp all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 tblsp packed light brown sugar
2 tblsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
2 tblsp Smooth natural-style peanut butter
1 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅔ cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
4- TO 5½-QUART
1 cup plus 2 tblsp all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup granulated sugar
6 tblsp packed light brown sugar
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
¼ cup Smooth natural-style peanut butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1⅓ cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
6- TO 8-QUART
1½ cups plus 1 tblsp all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup plus 1 tblsp packed light brown sugar
6 tblsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
6 tblsp Smooth natural-style peanut butter
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tblsp vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 Generously butter the inside of a canister, then add a little flour and tilt it all around to coat the sides and bottom. Dump out any excess flour inside.
2 Whisk the flour and baking powder in a bowl; set aside.
3 Beat both sugars, butter, and peanut butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy and light, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla until smooth.
4 Scrape down and remove the beaters. Add the flour mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula just until fully moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape and smooth this thick batter into the slow cooker.
5 Overlap long lengths of paper towels on top of the slow cooker, then set the lid in place. Cook on high for about 1½ hours in a small or medium cooker, or about 2 hours in a large cooker, or until the cake is firm throughout, a tad dry at the edges, and set to the touch in the middle. Remove the canister from the cooker, if possible, and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes—or cool in the cooker, turned off, for 45 minutes. If desired, invert the canister or cooker on a cutting board, shake gently to release the blondies, then remove the canister or cooker and turn the blondies right side up before cutting into pieces.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• This one is truly more like bar cookies than a cake. It won’t rise up too much and so ends up very much like standard blondies. Again, the edges will get more done than the center.
• Make sure you beat the sugars, butter, and peanut butter well—certainly until they change consistency and get airy. This will lighten up the still-dense cake considerably.
2- TO 3½-QUART
¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp salt
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
6 tblsp granulated sugar
6 tblsp packed dark brown sugar
1 whole large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1¼ cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or steel-cut)
1¼ cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
4- TO 5½-QUART
1 cup plus 2 tblsp all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
12 tblsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
½ cup plus 1 tblsp granulated sugar
½ cup plus 1 tblsp packed dark brown sugar
1 whole large egg plus 1 egg white, at room temperature
½ tblsp vanilla extract
1¾ cups plus 2 tblsp rolled oats (not quick-cooking or steel-cut)
1¾ cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
6- TO 8-QUART
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the canister
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the canister
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 whole large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2½ cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or steel-cut)
2½ cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 Generously butter the inside of the canister, then add some flour and tilt it until it’s evenly coated. Tap out any excess flour.
2 Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
3 Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl until fluffy and pale yellow, with only a few bits of undissolved sugar in the mix. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla until smooth.
4 Scrape down and remove the beaters. Stir in the flour mixture, followed by the oats and chocolate chips, just until there are no dry specks of ingredients in the batter. Spoon and spread into the slow cooker.
5 Overlap long lengths of paper towels across the top of the cooker, then set the lid in place. Cook on high for about 1 hour 20 minutes in a small slow cooker, about 1½ hours in a medium cooker, or about 2 hours in a large cooker, or until the cake is soft but set, puffed yet pulling back from the canister’s sides. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 1 hour, then either cut pieces of the cake out of the cooker with a nonstick-safe knife or invert the cooker over a cutting board, shake the cake free, and set it right side up on a serving platter.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• A dense, chewy cake, this one’s best with a strong cup of coffee, even as an afternoon snack.
• The cake will pack well: wrap pieces in wax paper to send in lunches.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
All-purpose flour, for dusting the baking dish
1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tblsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 5 minutes, plus more for greasing the baking dish
⅔ cup plus 1½ tblsp sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
12 ounces cream cheese (regular or low-fat), softened to room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream (regular or low-fat)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Set a 1-quart, high-sided, round baking or soufflé dish in the slow cooker. Fill the canister with warm tap water around the dish until it comes halfway up the sides. Remove the dish, cover the cooker, and set to high while you prepare the batter.
2 Butter the inside of the baking dish. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter, 1½ tblsp sugar, the cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl; pour into the baking dish and press the crumb mixture against the sides and bottom to form a crust.
3 Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the cream cheese and remaining ⅔ cup sugar in a large bowl until the most of the sugar has dissolved, about 4 minutes, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.
4 Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next and continuing to scrape down the bowl after each addition. Finally, beat in the sour cream and vanilla.
5 Pour and scrape this batter into the prepared baking dish. Set it in the hot water in the slow cooker. Lay overlapping, long lengths of paper towels over the top of the slow cooker, hanging the excess down the sides.
6 Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours, or until puffed and set but still a bit jiggly in the center.
7 Unplug the cooker, remove the lid and paper towels, and let stand for 1 hour. Remove the baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days before slicing into wedges to serve.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Here’s the first of our steamed desserts, incredibly light and moist. In many ways, the slow cooker is functioning as a water bath, a bain-marie, providing a constant humidity to set this cheesecake (and subsequent steamed puddings).
• The baking dish used here—and in all the subsequent steamed puddings—will fit in almost any slow cooker except the very tiniest, oval ones. You may also use a high-sided, 6-inch cheesecake pan for these desserts. However, do not use a pan with removable sides and bottom; the water can leach in and ruin the dessert.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW It can be tough to get the hot baking dish out of a slow cooker, particularly a small model. To alleviate any difficulty, before you begin the recipe, lay a long strip of cheesecloth in the cooker, the excess hanging over the sides. Set the baking dish on top of it, add the water, and continue on with the recipe. At the end, this cheesecloth strip can be used to leverage the baking dish out of the cooker, lifting the baking dish up in its cradle, as it were. You’ll still have to support it lest the cheesecloth break; but you’ll be spared digging with your fingers into a still-warm cooker.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the baking dish
1 tblsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the canister
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
¾ cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Place a 1-quart, round, high-sided baking or soufflé dish in the slow cooker and fill the canister with warm tap water until it comes about 1 inch up the sides of the dish. Remove the dish, cover the cooker, and set on high while you prepare the batter.
2 Grease the inside of the baking dish with some butter, then add some flour and turn the dish to coat the sides and bottom thoroughly. Knock out any excess flour.
3 Whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
4 Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula, until there are almost no undissolved sugar grains in the mix. Beat in the egg until smooth, scrape down the bowl again, then beat in the yogurt and vanilla. Scrape down and remove the beaters.
4 Add the flour mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula just until there are no bits of dry flour left in the batter. Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish.
5 Set it in the cooker, then lay long lengths of overlapping paper towels over the top of the cooker. Cover and cook on high for about 2½ hours, or until the cake is puffed and set in the middle but still quite moist.
6 Remove the baking dish from the cooker and set it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Either cut slices right out of the dish or invert the baking dish onto a cutting board, shake it gently to release the cake, remove the baking dish, and set it right side up on a serving plate to cut into wedges.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Steaming a cake like this is an old-fashioned technique, mostly gone out of style although deserving a comeback with the slow cooker. Once, these desserts were all called puddings, not because they were soft but because they set through steam rather than dry heat. We’ve put them among the cakes because they are certainly not custards and most Americans will find their texture more in keeping with other cakes, if decidedly moister.
• If you want a bit of a sour pop to balance the ginger, add up to 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest or finely grated orange zest for a less assertive flavor.
Serve It Up! A steamed gingerbread calls for a dollop of crème fraîche—a cultured cream sort of like sour cream, but with a higher butterfat content. Look for it in the refrigerator case near the butter and sour cream, then doctor it at home with a little confectioners’ sugar and some vanilla extract.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the baking dish
3½ ounces pecans, finely ground (1 scant cup)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup orange marmalade
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Set a 1-quart, round, high-sided baking dish in the slow cooker and fill the canister with warm tap water until it comes about 1½ inches up the outside of the dish. Remove the baking dish, then cover the cooker and set on high while you prepare the batter.
2 Generously butter the inside of the baking dish, getting down into the seam between the wall and the bottom. Add some flour, turn the dish every which way to coat the interior, then tap out the excess flour over the sink so there’s just a fine film remaining inside.
3 Whisk the flour, pecans, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
4 Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy, even pale yellow in color, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally, about 5 minutes. Beat in the orange marmalade, eggs, and vanilla. Scrape down and remove the beaters.
5 Pour in the flour mixture, then fold with a rubber spatula just until there are no dry specks of flour anywhere. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish.
6 Butter one side of a 10-inch piece of aluminum foil, then set it buttered side down over the baking dish. Crimp and seal the foil against the baking dish, then set it all in the hot water.
7 Cover and cook on high for about 3 hours, until the cake is firm and set but still quite moist. Remove the baking dish from the hot water, peel off the foil, and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before cutting slices out of the dish or setting a cutting board over the baking dish, inverting it all, releasing the cake, removing the dish, and setting the cake back right side up on a serving platter.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Quite sweet but very moist, this steamed cake also has a thick, dense texture. It’s best while still warm.
• Individual slices can be toasted on a baking sheet 4 to 6 inches from a heated broiler for breakfast the next morning. You might even have to break out the raspberry jam.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the baking dish
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
6 tblsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
6 tblsp sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 ripe medium bananas, peeled and mashed
2 tblsp milk (whole or low-fat)
¼ cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 Set a 1-quart, high-sided soufflé or baking dish in the slow cooker, then fill the slow cooker with warm tap water to come about 1½ inches up the outside of the baking dish. Remove the baking dish, cover the cooker, and set on high while you prepare the batter.
2 Generously butter the inside of the baking dish, then add some flour and turn the dish to get a fine film of flour over its insides. Tap out any excess.
3 Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
4 Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg, then the mashed banana and milk. Scrape down and remove the beaters.
5 Fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula just until there’s no unmoistened flour anywhere to be seen. Fold in the chocolate chips, then pour and scrape the batter into the prepared bowl.
6 Butter one side of a 10-inch piece of aluminum foil, then set it over the baking dish, buttered side down, and crimp the edges to seal tightly. Set the baking dish in the hot water in the cooker.
7 Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours, until the cake is firm and set but still quite moist, even a tad spongy. Remove the baking dish from the cooker, remove the foil, and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing out wedges or setting a curtton board over the baking dish, inverting it all, releasing the cake, removing the dish, and setting the cake back right side up on a serving platter.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• A very moist cake, almost sticky when first cut, this one will be a big hit with a cup of hot tea.
• Because steamed cakes are so moist, they don’t pack well in lunches. That said, they’ll be waiting for you when you get home.
• For the best flavor, make sure the bananas are quite ripe, even a tad soft, with lots of brown spots mottled over their skins. The best ones for this recipe are, frankly, probably on the discount produce rack at your supermarket.
• The batter may appear broken—that is, with soggy threads throughout—after the addition of the banana. The flour will take care of the problem.
• The sheet of foil used for the cover should be only a tad larger than the baking dish. Otherwise, it can hang down into the water; steam can then get under it and onto the cake.
Serve It Up! Serve slices with this Easy Chocolate Sauce: Bring ¼ cup water and ¼ cup sugar to a boil in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, stirring often. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and stir in 6 ounces chopped, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate until smooth. Whisk in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 tablespoon brandy, cognac, or Armagnac.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
1 cup plus 2 tblsp all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the baking dish
3¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1⅓ cups chopped pitted dates
⅔ cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tblsp toasted walnut oil, plus more for greasing
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ tblsp vanilla extract
⅔ cup finely chopped walnuts
1 Set a 1-quart high-sided, round soufflé or baking dish in the slow cooker, then add enough warm tap water to come halfway up the outside of the dish. Remove the baking dish, cover the cooker, and set on high while you prepare the batter.
2 Generously grease the inside of the baking dish with some walnut oil dabbed on a paper towel, then add some flour and give it a fine coating by twisting and turning it before knocking out any excess flour over the sink.
3 Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until well combined, and set aside.
4 Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the dates, brown sugar, and oil in a large bowl until thick and pasty. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then scrape down the inside of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla until smooth. Scrape down and remove the beaters.
5 Pour in the flour mixture, then use a rubber spatula to fold it in just until there are no dry pockets of flour in the bowl. Fold in the walnuts.
6 Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish. Oil one side of a 16-inch piece of aluminum foil with some walnut oil dabbed on a paper towel, then set the foil, oil side down, over the baking dish and seal tightly to the edges. Set the baking dish in the hot water.
7 Cover and cook on high for about 3 hours, or until the cake is sticky but set, moist but still firm to the touch even under the foil. Remove the baking dish from the slow cooker, take off the foil, and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Either cut wedges right out of the baking dish or set a cutting board over the baking dish, invert the whole contraption, jiggle the cake free, remove the baking dish, and right the cake onto a serving platter.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• If you’re as old as we are, you may remember date-nut bread baked in a clean coffee can, a staple sweet at ’70s parties. This recipe replicates that classic without the metallic aftertaste.
• Don’t use desiccated baking dates for this recipe. You’ll need moist, sticky, juicy, pitted dates, such as Medjools. You must be able to mash the dates between your fingers.
• You really can’t overbeat the mixture in step 4. Keep going to make the dates as sticky as possible.
Serve It Up! Smear every slice with cream cheese.
These desserts often haunt us professional food writers—or their success does. On the stovetop, they’re temperamental, no doubt about it. A vanilla pudding or a creamy custard won’t set without first coming to the right temperature—and holding there without nudging much above it, a razor’s edge of success without copious amounts of thickeners like flour or cornstarch.
The slow cooker takes care of those problems. Puddings and custards come out creamy every time. With this important caveat: you’ll get what’s considered among the mavens as the perfect set, never hard. After years of eating the instant stuff from chemical-laced packets, some of us have gotten the idea that you should be able to cut a pudding almost like a cake. But puddings should have a rich and creamy texture, velvety and smooth. They should also ride the line between a sauce and whipped cream—wet and moist, yet dense. When you scoop a bit out of a bowl, the rest should slowly flow in place to fill the void.
But don’t just think vanilla and chocolate puddings. We’ve also got Chocolate Fondue, a range of rice and tapioca puddings, and even three bread puddings. Why are these last not in the cake section? Because puddings and custards rely more heavily on eggs for their setting, not thickeners. And there’s no leavening in the mix, so they don’t rise well. Sure, a bread pudding may puff a bit, but that’s mostly about the hot air that gets trapped between the bread cubes. Once the thing cools, it settles. Although you won’t—because puddings are about the best desserts around. They make everyone happy. You should have seen us during recipe testing, giddy over pots and pots of custards!
2- TO 3½-QUART
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3½ cups milk
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tblsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
3 yolks large eggs/yolks, at room temperature
4- TO 5½-QUART
4½ ounces unsweetened chocolate
5¼ cups milk
1 cup plus 2 tblsp sugar
6 tblsp all-purpose flour
1½ tblsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp salt
1 whole plus 3 yolks large eggs/yolks, at room temperature
6- TO 8-QUART
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
7 cups milk
1½ cups sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tblsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
6 yolks large eggs/yolks, at room temperature
1 Grate the chocolate into the slow cooker with a microplane or the small holes of a box grater. Whisk in the milk, sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt until the flour has dissolved.
2 Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes, then whisk well. Cover and continue cooking on high for 30 to 40 minutes, whisking every 15 minutes, or until thickened and bubbling.
3 Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl, then whisk in about 1 cup of the hot pudding until smooth. Whisk the combined mixture back into the slow cooker until smooth. Set the temperature to low and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring twice.
4 If possible, remove the canister from the slow cooker and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 4 hours before serving. Or spoon the pudding into a bowl and refrigerate for up to 2 hours. Afterwards, cover the canister with its lid or the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Although the chocolate will firm up in the fridge, this pudding is still a little thicker than the buttery Brown sugar Pudding (below). That said, it’s soft and rich rather than chewy or stiff.
• Make sure you tap any bits of chocolate stuck in the box grater or on the microplane into the slow cooker.
2- TO 3½-QUART
3 cups milk
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
1 tblsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
3 tblsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
4- TO 5½-QUART
4¾ cups milk
⅔ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup plus 1 tblsp all-purpose flour
1½ tblsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
5 tblsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
8 large egg yolks, at room temperature
6- TO 8-QUART
6 cups milk
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
2 tblsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
6 tblsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
10 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 Whisk the milk, brown sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt in the slow cooker until no bits of undissolved flour or sugar remain in the mix. Stir in the butter bits.
2 Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes. Whisk well, then continue cooking on high for 30 to 40 minutes, whisking every 15 minutes, until thickened and bubbling.
3 Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl, then whisk a cup or two of the hot pudding into them until smooth. Whisk the combined mixture back into the pudding in the cooker.
4 Set the temperature on low and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, whisking twice, until again somewhat thickened.
5 Remove the canister from the cooker if possible and chill the canister in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Or spoon the pudding into a large bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Puddings from a slow cooker will never get solidly thick unless there’s so much flour or cornstarch in the mix that they become almost gelatinous. But that’s the good news! You’ll end up with a more traditional set, certainly nothing akin to what comes out of instant pudding boxes.
• Be fairly aggressive with your whisking, both in steps 1 and 4. You need to make sure you break the pudding up so it stays soft and velvety.
• Use a nonstick-safe whisk if your cooker has a nonstick finish.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW The pudding will definitely form a skin as it cools, the result of a large milk protein coming to the surface and drying out as it meets the air. If you’re a skin-o-phobe, seal plastic wrap right against the pudding’s surface when it goes into the fridge. The lack of air contact will keep a skin from forming.
2- TO 3½-QUART
8 ounces Cream cheese (regular or low-fat), at room temperature
2 tblsp packed light brown sugar
1 whole large eggs/white, at room temperature
3 tblsp Raspberry jam
2 tsp Chambord or other raspberry liqueur
2 tblsp Graham cracker crumbs
4- TO 5½-QUART
12 ounces Cream cheese (regular or low-fat), at room temperature
3 tblsp packed light brown sugar
1 whole plus 1 white large eggs/white, at room temperature
4½ tblsp Raspberry jam
1 tblsp Chambord or other raspberry liqueur
3 tblsp Graham cracker crumbs
6- TO 8-QUART
1 pound (16 ounces) Cream cheese (regular or low-fat), at room temperature
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 whole large eggs/white, at room temperature
6 tblsp Raspberry jam
4 tsp Chambord or other raspberry liqueur
¼ cup Graham cracker crumbs
1 Place two 1-cup, high-sided ramekins in a small slow cooker, or three in a medium model, or four in a large one. Pour enough warm tap water into the slow cooker to come 1 inch up the sides of the ramekins. Remove them from the cooker, then cover it and cook on high while you prepare the batter.
2 Beat the cream cheese and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg, scrape down the inside of the bowl, and beat in the jam and liqueur. Divide this mixture among the ramekins; set them in the cooker.
3 Cover and cook on high for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the pudding is set but still wiggles in its center when the ramekin is tapped. Remove the ramekins to a wire rack and cool for 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Serve by sprinkling each pudding with graham cracker crumbs.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• These are really a cross between a pudding and a cheesecake. They can be kept in the fridge for several days—dessert ready when you are.
• Four ramekins may not fit in some large cooker models. Check before you begin: if you can’t get four ramekins in your model without crowding, use only three—and thus the ingredients listed for the medium cooker.
• Substitute any jam and liqueur combination for the raspberry—apricot jam and apricot schnapps, cherry jam and Cheery Herring, and so forth.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tblsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 Set a 1-quart, high-sided, round soufflé dish or baking dish in the slow cooker. Fill the canister (not the baking dish) with warm tap water until it comes about halfway up the dish. Remove it, then cover the cooker and cook on high while you prepare the chocolate mixture.
2 Warm the cream and vanilla in a small saucepan set over medium-low heat just until bubbles fizz around the outer edge of the pan.
3 Place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl; pour in the warmed cream. Stir with a rubber spatula until the chocolate melts. Set aside to cool at room temperature for 10 minutes.
4 Use an electric mixer to beat the egg yolks and sugar at medium speed in a second bowl until thick and pale yellow, even fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the chocolate mixture and salt until smooth, then pour into the prepared baking dish.
5 Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and set it all in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour 45 minutes, or until the custard barely jiggles when the baking dish is tapped. Remove the baking dish from the slow cooker, peel off the plastic wrap, and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before refrigerating for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days, all before serving. After 4 hours in the fridge, cover the baking dish again with new plastic wrap.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Pot de crème (poh-duh-CREM) is like a dense chocolate pudding but with no thickeners in the mix—no flour, no cornstarch. It’s as elemental a dessert as you can imagine—and made wondrously silky by moist heat.
• Bittersweet chocolate offers a more pleasing, acidic bite than semisweet chocolate would.
• For an easy way to get a hot baking dish out of the slow cooker using cheesecloth.
• Spoonfuls of this dessert in bowls call out for whipped cream.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
16 ounces (1 pound) semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tblsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1 Mix the chocolate, cream, butter, vanilla, and salt in a round, high-sided, 1-quart soufflé or baking dish. Set that dish in the slow cooker.
2 Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, or until the chocolate has melted and the fondue is hot. Whisk until smooth.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• You’ve never had fondue as the slow cooker can make it. There’s no chance of the chocolate turning bitter.
• Some recipes call for melting the chocolate mixture right in the slow cooker, no baking dish needed. However, we feel it’s too difficult to spear bits of strawberries or pound cake cubes, dunk them into the deep cooker, and get them somewhere near your plate. Instead, we prefer to be able to bring the smaller, shallower baking dish to the table. (We even set it on a stand over a candle to keep it warm.)
• You needn’t make this great quantity. You can halve the ingredients and use a 2-cup ramekin. The cooking time will be reduced to 1½ hours.
Serve It Up! You’ll need bamboo skewers and various things to dip: strawberries, sliced bananas, cubed pound cake, or marshmallows. Or skip the spears and go simple: use graham crackers and some peanut butter to smear on them before they take a dunk.
2- TO 3½-QUART
3 cups evaporated whole milk
2½ cups sweetened condensed milk (regular or low-fat)
1 tblsp light corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
1 4–inch cinnamon sticks
4- TO 5½-QUART
4½ cups evaporated whole milk
3¾ cups sweetened condensed milk (regular or low-fat)
1½ tblsp light corn syrup
½ tblsp baking soda
½ tblsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp salt
1½ 4–inch cinnamon sticks
6- TO 8-QUART
6 cups evaporated whole milk
5 cups sweetened condensed milk (regular or low-fat)
2 tblsp light corn syrup
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2 4–inch cinnamon sticks
1 Stir the evaporated milk, condensed milk, corn syrup, baking soda, vanilla, and salt in the slow cooker until the corn syrup dissolves. Add the cinnamon sticks.
2 Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
3 Uncover, then continue cooking on high, stirring every 30 minutes, for 3 to 4 hours in a small slow cooker, 4 to 5 hours in a medium cooker, or 5 to 6 hours in a large cooker until the mixture is thick, brown, and sticky. Spoon into glass jars, seal, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• This is the iconic caramel sauce, usually made just from sweetened condensed milk, but here it is morphed to fit the slow cooker’s unique heat, with some vanilla and cinnamon added for even more flavor. Do not use fat-free sweetened condensed milk for this treat.
• No, you won’t get away from all that stirring, but you won’t have to do as much as you would stovetop. Once the lid comes off, you need to do so every 30 minutes to keep the mixture from scorching as it reduces and caramelizes.
• The timings here are given in a range since this technique is essentially candy-making, and thus dependent on the day’s weather, humidity, and even temperature.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED Light corn syrup refers only to its color, as opposed to dark corn syrup. Do not use reduced-calorie corn syrup, since it won’t provide the right ratio of sugars to make the sauce gooey.
Serve It Up! Spoon it onto ice cream, stir it into coffee, drizzle it on shortbread, or simply lick it off the spoon.
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, HIGH-SIDED, ROUND BAKING DISH
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta (regular or low-fat)
⅔ cup milk
½ cup sour cream (regular or low-fat)
⅓ cup sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
3 cups cubed rustic or hearty white bread cubes
⅓ cup golden raisins
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 Set a round, high-sided, 1-quart baking or soufflé dish in the slow cooker, then fill the surrounding canister with warm tap water until it comes about halfway up the side of the baking dish. Remove the dish, cover the cooker, and cook on high while you prepare the bread pudding.
2 Whisk the eggs, ricotta, milk, sour cream, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl until creamy and light. Add the bread cubes and raisins; stir until well moistened. Pack everything into the prepared baking dish, pouring any excess liquid in the bowl over the top of the bread cubes. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon.
3 Set the baking dish in the slow cooker. Overlap long strips of paper towels over the top of the cooker, hanging down the sides for stability. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until set and firm. Transfer the baking dish to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before scooping out servings.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• This bread pudding is denser than most, partly because it’s steamed and partly because of the nature of the cheese-laced custard. When cold, cut it into wedges.
• Fat-free ricotta and fat-free sour cream are loaded with stabilizers that will cease to work in the hot, steamy cooker—and lead the sauce to break. A little extra fat, even in the low-fat versions, safeguards the pudding.
• If you’ve removed the zest from the lemon with a citrus zester, mince those strips into fine bits so there are no lemony threads in the mix.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups cubes of French or Italian bread (1-inch cubes)
7 tblsp Strawberry jam
1 cup milk
7 tblsp Creamy natural-style peanut butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
4- TO 5½-QUART
8 cups cubes of French or Italian bread (1-inch cubes)
¾ cup Strawberry jam
2 cups milk
¾ cup Creamy natural-style peanut butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp salt
6- TO 8-QUART
12 cups cubes of French or Italian bread (1-inch cubes)
1¼ cups Strawberry jam
3¼ cups milk
1¼ cups Creamy natural-style peanut butter
6 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1 Generously grease the inside of the canister with unsalted butter, taking care to get into the seam between the wall and the bottom.
2 Lay the bread cubes out on a clean, dry work surface; then spread one side of as many as you can with the strawberry jam. Toss them into the slow cooker.
3 Blend the milk, peanut butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large covered blender until smooth, scraping down the inside of the container once or twice. Pour this puree over the bread cubes, then press down with the back of a wooden spoon until they are submerged and have soaked up a good deal of the liquid.
4 Cover and cook on high for 1 hour 45 minutes in a small slow cooker, 2 hours in a medium model, or 2½ hours in a large cooker, or until the pudding is set with little trace of moisture anywhere in the cooker. Scoop up warm servings without delay.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• There are already bread puddings in the Breakfast chapter, but these are sweeter, more in keeping with dessert (or an afternoon treat).
• Spreading the bread with the jam is the hardest part of this recipe. The best tool is a small spreader for soft cheeses or creamy dips, rather than a flatware knife.
• By getting the bread to absorb much of the liquid before you begin to cook the bread pudding, you’ll reduce the risk of having the eggs scramble and adhere to the sides of the cooker.
• Unfortunately, none of these bread puddings makes a good leftover for dessert the next day. The bread turns to mush.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups cubes of cinnamon-swirl bread or cinnamon babka (1-inch cubes)
½ cup chopped walnuts
⅛ tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4- TO 5½-QUART
6 cups cubes of cinnamon-swirl bread or cinnamon babka (1-inch cubes)
¾ cup chopped walnuts
¼ tsp salt
1½ cups milk
3 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6- TO 8-QUART
8 cups cubes of cinnamon-swirl bread or cinnamon babka (1-inch cubes)
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ tsp salt
2 cups milk
4 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Heat the oven to 350°F. In the meantime, generously butter the inside of the canister.
2 Spread the bread cubes on a large, lipped baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Toss the bread cubes, walnuts, and salt in the slow cooker.
3 Heat the milk in a large saucepan set over medium-low heat until it begins to fizz and bubble at the edges of the pan. Whisk in the chocolate, cocoa powder, and sugar, until the chocolate has fully dissolved and the mixture is uniform in color. Cool for 15 minutes.
4 Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture, then pour over the bread cubes and nuts. Press down with the back of a wooden spoon so that the bread is thoroughly moistened, even soaking up most of the liquid.
5 Cover and cook on high for 1½ hours in a small slow cooker, 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours in a medium cooker, or 2 to 2½ hours in a large cooker, or until the pudding is puffed and set without any evidence of liquid in the cooker. Scoop out big spoonfuls to serve.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• We prefer dark chocolate here, maybe even 75 or 80 percent dark, to work against the already sweet cinnamon bread. We’d keep any cinnamon-raisin bread away from this recipe, but that’s just our preference.
• Make sure you cool the chocolate for at least 15 minutes in step 2 to avoid scrambling the eggs.
• For these bread puddings, cut the bread into small cubes. Larger ones won’t soften as they would in the oven.
2- TO 3½-QUART
3⅔ cups milk (regular or low-fat)
1 cup white Arborio rice
1 cup roughly chopped dried sweet or tart cherries
1 cup sugar
3 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into little bits
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp salt
⅛ tsp almond extract
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
4- TO 5½-QUART
6 cups (1½ quarts) milk (regular or low-fat)
1⅔ cups white Arborio rice
1½ cups roughly chopped dried sweet or tart cherries
1½ cups sugar
5 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into little bits
2 tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp almond extract
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
6- TO 8-QUART
8 cups (2 quarts) milk (regular or low-fat)
2¼ cups white Arborio rice
2¼ cups roughly chopped dried sweet or tart cherries
2 cups sugar
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into little bits
1 tblsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp almond extract
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 Stir the milk, rice, cherries, sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and almond extract in the slow cooker until the sugar has dissolved.
2 Cover and cook on high, stirring twice, for 4 hours, or until thick and rich.
3 Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl until creamy, about 1 minute. Whisk in a cup or two of the hot rice pudding until smooth. Whisk the mixture back into the pudding in the cooker until evenly distributed. Serve warm.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Arborio rice, the same kind used to make risotto, gives this pudding a thick, sticky texture.
• Use sweet or tart cherries, depending on preference.
• The egg yolks here are not really thickeners; instead, they’re enrichers, designed to take this pudding over the top. Thus, they don’t need extra cooking time for setting the pudding. And in terms of food safety, they’ll pop right up to a hot temperature, given the volume of the pudding.
2- TO 3½-QUART
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup milk
7 tblsp sugar
⅓ cup small pearl tapioca
⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
⅛ tsp salt
1 yolk large eggs
⅓ cup diced, peeled, and pitted mango
4- TO 5½-QUART
1½ cups coconut milk
1½ cups milk
¾ cup sugar
½ cup small pearl tapioca
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
¼ tsp salt
1 whole large eggs
½ cup diced, peeled, and pitted mango
6- TO 8-QUART
2¼ cups coconut milk
2¼ cups milk
1 cup plus 2 tblsp sugar
¾ cup small pearl tapioca
¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½ tsp salt
1 whole large egg plus 1 yolk
¾ cup diced, peeled, and pitted mango
1 Stir the coconut milk, milk, sugar, tapioca, coconut, and salt in the slow cooker until the sugar dissolves.
2 Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the tapioca is transparent and soft.
3 Whisk the egg in a medium bowl, then whisk in a cup or two of the hot pudding. Whisk the mixture back into the pudding in the cooker until uniform throughout.
4 Set the temperature on low and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until thickened a bit. Stir in the mango to serve.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Tapioca puddings are an old-fashioned dessert, rich and comforting. Don’t use instant tapioca, sometimes found in the baking aisle; and don’t use the large tapioca pearls found in bubble teas at Asian restaurants. Instead, use the standard small tapioca pearls.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED Tapioca is a starch from the cassava root, used as a thickener or additive in custards and sauces. By the way, in Great Britain, tapioca is a pudding thickened with arrowroot—not at all this American dessert.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW To peel and pit a mango, balance it on one long, thin side on your cutting board, then slice down on either side of the large pit inside, leaving about 1 inch in the center of the fruit. With the cut side facing you slice the flesh in each half into small squares while still in the peel without cutting through, like cutting brownies in a pan. Invert the peels, turning them inside out like knitted caps, and slice off these small squares. Finally, cut the remaining peel away from the flesh around the pit and slice off as much flesh as possible, dicing or chopping it as the recipe requires.
Given our druthers, we’d always have fruit for dessert. Or better yet, fruit in dessert. We’re partial to crisps, cobblers, and clafoutis. Unfortunately, fruit isn’t a year-round thing, despite the illusion induced by international trade. Apples in May are a tad squishy; plums in January, unforgivable.
The slow cooker is more forgiving. Many of these desserts will work well with frozen peaches, raspberries, or sour cherries. In fact, much of that frozen fruit is picked closer to perfection than the stuff that ends up in the supermarket bins. After all, the fruit in the freezer case has had no time to ripen further in transport and storage. It has to be picked fairly ripe before it hits the deep freeze.
But in most cases, frozen fruit has to be thawed before it can go into the slow cooker. And here’s the problem: you put it in a bowl in the fridge overnight and the next day, you’re left with lots of water as well as thawed fruit. Drain off that water; it can bog down these desserts.
Beyond the crisps and such, we’ve got some desserts that are elemental: Stuffed Apples, Wine-Poached Pears, and Bananas Foster. And we round it out with some fruit-based dessert sauces, perfect for drizzling onto pound cake slices, spooning over ice cream, or layering in a trifle or parfait. No wonder we like fruit for dessert.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced peaches
1 cup fresh raspberries
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tblsp instant tapioca
1 tblsp all-purpose flour
1 tblsp fresh lemon juice
⅛ tsp salt
2 tblsp unsalted butter
1 cup no-fruit-added plain granola
4- TO 5½-QUART
8 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced peaches
2 cups fresh raspberries
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup instant tapioca
2 tblsp all-purpose flour
2 tblsp fresh lemon juice
⅛ tsp salt
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter
2 cups no-fruit-added plain granola
6- TO 8-QUART
12 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced peaches
3 cups fresh raspberries
¾ cup granulated sugar
6 tblsp instant tapioca
3 tblsp all-purpose flour
2½ tblsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
6 tblsp (¾ stick) unsalted butter
3 cups no-fruit-added plain granola
1 Stir the peaches, raspberries, sugar, tapioca, flour, lemon juice, and salt in the slow cooker until the sugar dissolves. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until thick and bubbling.
2 Melt the butter in a skillet set over medium heat. Stir in the granola; cook, tossing often, until buttery, warm, and aromatic, about 3 minutes.
3 Dish up the peach filling into bowls and sprinkle the granola topping over each serving.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Feel free to substitute frozen peach slices and frozen raspberries for the fresh fruit here. Thaw in a big bowl, then pour off the excess liquid.
• Vary the size of the skillet, depending on how much granola you need. You might even want to prepare the topping for a large slow cooker in batches—or simply enough for the number of servings you’ll be dishing up right then. If so, reduce the butter to compensate.
FOR THE FILLING
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups pitted sour cherries
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1½ tblsp instant tapioca
1 tblsp all-purpose flour
4- TO 5½-QUART
6 cups pitted sour cherries
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tblsp instant tapioca
5 tsp all-purpose flour
6- TO 8-QUART
8 cups pitted sour cherries
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
3 tblsp instant tapioca
2 cups all-purpose flour
FOR THE TOPPING
2- TO 3½-QUART
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tblsp packed light brown sugar
3 tblsp ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
6 tblsp milk
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 5 minutes
½ tsp almond extract
4- TO 5½-QUART
2 tblsp all-purpose flour
1½ cups all-purpose flour
5 tblsp packed light brown sugar
5 tblsp ground almonds
½ tblsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup plus 1 tblsp milk
6 tblsp (¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 5 minutes
¾ tsp almond extract
6- TO 8-QUART
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tblsp packed light brown sugar
6 tblsp ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup milk
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 5 minutes
1 tsp almond extract
1 To make the filling, mix the cherries, sugar, tapioca, and flour in the slow cooker until the sugar has begun to dissolve on the cherries.
2 To make the topping, whisk the flour, brown sugar, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the milk, butter, and almond extract in a second bowl until creamy. Then use a wooden spoon to stir these wet ingredients into the flour mixture.
3 Use a tablespoon to dollop the batter over the top of the filling. Overlap long strips of paper towels over the top of the cooker.
4 Cover and cook on high for 1½ hours in a small slow cooker, 1 hour 45 minutes in a medium cooker, or 2 hours in a large one, or until the filling is bubbling and the topping is firm if still a tad spongy to the touch.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Use fresh sour cherries or thawed frozen ones. Or use drained canned pitted sour cherries packed in water. Because some of the tartness is missing from canned cherries, add up to ½ tablespoon lemon juice to the filling ingredients.
• As you well know, things don’t brown in the slow cooker. If pale biscuits as a cobbler topping bother you, sprinkle each with a light dusting of ground cinnamon before cooking.
2- TO 3½-QUART
6 small fresh apricots, halved and pitted
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
¾ cup sour cream (regular or low-fat)
⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup milk
½ tblsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp salt
½ cup all-purpose flour
4- TO 5½-QUART
10 small fresh apricots, halved and pitted
6 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tblsp sour cream (regular or low-fat)
½ cup packed light brown sugar
6 tblsp milk
2½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup all-purpose flour
6- TO 8-QUART
16 small fresh apricots, halved and pitted
10 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 cups sour cream (regular or low-fat)
¾ cup plus 1 tblsp packed light brown sugar
½ cup plus 2 tblsp milk
1 tblsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 Generously grease the inside of the slow cooker canister with unsalted butter. Set the apricots cut side down in the canister.
2 Whisk the yolks, sour cream, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl until creamy. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Pour over the apricot halves.
3 Cover and cook on high for 1 hour 15 minutes in a small slow cooker, 1 hour 30 minutes in a medium cooker, or 1 hour 45 minutes in a large cooker, or until the batter is set and firm to the touch. Scoop out by the spoonfuls to serve.
• A clafouti (clah-foo-TEE) is an Old World dessert, a custard baked over fruit. The slow cooker makes it even creamier than the standard oven variety!
• Substitute an equivalent amount of whole sweet cherries, such as Bing. Add up to ½ teaspoon almond extract along with the vanilla.
Serve It Up! Rather than serving with whipped cream, sweeten additional sour cream with confectioners’ sugar and whisk in some vanilla extract to use as a dolloped topping.
FOR THE TOPPING
2- TO 3½-QUART
3 moderately tart medium baking apples (such as Gala or Braeburn), peeled, cored, and chopped
3 tblsp granulated sugar
½ tblsp all-purpose flour
½ tblsp instant tapioca
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
4- TO 5½-QUART
6 moderately tart medium baking apples (such as Gala or Braeburn), peeled, cored, and chopped
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 tblsp all-purpose flour
1 tblsp instant tapioca
½ tblsp fresh lemon juice
6- TO 8-QUART
9 moderately tart medium baking apples (such as Gala or Braeburn), peeled, cored, and chopped
½ cup granulated sugar
1½ tblsp all-purpose flour
1½ tblsp instant tapioca
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
FOR THE FILLING
2- TO 3½-QUART
6 tblsp chopped walnuts
6 tblsp packed light brown sugar
6 tblsp all-purpose flour
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp salt
4- TO 5½-QUART
¾ cup chopped walnuts
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
6- TO 8-QUART
1 cup plus 2 tblsp chopped walnuts
1 cup plus 2 tblsp packed light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tblsp all-purpose flour
12 tblsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 To make the filling, stir the apples, granulated sugar, flour, tapioca, and lemon juice in the slow cooker until the sugar dissolves.
2 To make the topping, mix the walnut pieces, brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl until the mixture is uniform, everything sliced with butter and sugar. Sprinkle over the top of the apple filling, making an even, full layer.
3 Lay overlapping lengths of paper towels over the top of the cooker. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours in a small or medium slow cooker, or 2½ hours in a large slow cooker, or until the apple filling is bubbling around the bits of topping. Uncover and let stand unplugged for 5 minutes before serving.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• A crisp is a fabled American dessert: a pie filling underneath a crunchy, nut-laced crust.
• For more flavor, before chopping them toast the walnut pieces on a large baking sheet in a 350°F oven until lightly browned and aromatic, tossing occasionally, perhaps as much as 10 minutes.
• Substitute peeled and pitted peaches or nectarines for the apples, and increase by 50 percent the amounts of the flour and tapioca for the filling.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED Instant tapioca, which is the consistency of coarse cornmeal, was your grandmother’s secret thickener for making perfect pies. It creates a rich, thick filling without the incipient gumminess of flour or the stiffness of cornstarch.
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 large baking apples, such as Cortland, Rome, or Northern Spy
2 tblsp chopped pecans
2 tblsp finely chopped stemmed dried figs
2 tblsp packed dark brown sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tblsp unsalted butter
¼ cup unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
4- TO 5½-QUART
4 large baking apples, such as Cortland, Rome, or Northern Spy
¼ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup finely chopped stemmed dried figs
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp salt
2 tblsp unsalted butter
½ cup unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
6- TO 8-QUART
6 large baking apples, such as Cortland, Rome, or Northern Spy
6 tblsp chopped pecans
6 tblsp finely chopped stemmed dried figs
6 tblsp packed dark brown sugar
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
3 tblsp unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened apple juice or apple cider
1 Use a melon baller to core the apples, working down through the stem end into the flesh, turning the baller in tight circles as you work down, until you have removed all the seeds and core without breaking through the sides or bottom and leaving as much flesh as possible.
2 Mix the pecans, figs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl; pack this into the core of each apple. Top the stuffing with ½ tablespoon butter on each apple. Set them stuffing side up in the slow cooker and pour the apple juice around them.
3 Cover and cook on high for 2½ hours or on low for 5 hours, or until the apples are soft—until you could cut them with a spoon. Use a large slotted spoon to transfer to serving bowls and cool a few minutes before you dig in.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Since you can cook these on low for so long, and they’ll stay warm for a while, you might also consider stuffed apples for breakfast, setting up the slow cooker before you’re off to bed.
• Using a melon baller to core an apple is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. If this is your first time, you might buy one extra apple, just in case you slip and break through the flesh of the apple.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 small, firm pears
At least 3 cups moderately dry, fruity red wine, such as a Pinot Noir
1½ cups sugar
1 4-inch cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
4- TO 5½-QUART
6 small, firm pears
At least 5 cups moderately dry, fruity red wine, such as a Pinot Noir
2½ cups sugar
1½ 4-inch cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
6- TO 8-QUART
8 small, firm pears
At least 6 cups moderately dry, fruity red wine, such as a Pinot Noir
3 cups sugar
2 4-inch cinnamon sticks
8 whole cloves
1 Peel the pears, then slice off about ¼ inch of their wide bottoms. Core them by circling a melon baller or a serrated grapefruit spoon up from their wide bottoms and into the flesh, pulling out the seeds and tough core without breaking through the sides.
2 Set the pears cut side down in the slow cooker. Pour in the wine—and perhaps more—until the pears are submerged, then remove the pears to a plate. (This is to determine how much poaching liquid you need.)
3 Whisk the sugar into the poaching liquid until it dissolves. Return the pears to the slow cooker, cut side down. Drop in the cinnamon sticks and cloves.
4 Cover and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours in a small slow cooker, 3 to 4 hours in a medium cooker, or 4 to 5 hours in a large one, or until the pears are still firm but easily cut with a spoon. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them from the poaching liquid to serving bowls. If desired, spoon some of the poaching liquid around them, after having discarded the cinnamon sticks and cloves.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Bosc or Forelle pears work best for this dessert because they’re firm but still very sweet. Some Forelle pears are exceptionally small; choose the largest ones you can find. However, the timings are stated in a range because firmer pears will take longer than softer ones.
• Skip the deep red wines for this dish and go for a lighter Pinot Noir, Gamay, or even Lambrusco.
• If a thick syrup is desired, remove the herbs from the poaching liquid, pour the liquid into a large saucepan, and boil it down until reduced by three-quarters.
Serve It Up! Chill a large bowl and the beaters for an electric mixer in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Then beat heavy cream with an electric mixer at high speed in that bowl until soft and luscious, not yet stiff. Beat in 1 or 2 tablespoons of the poaching liquid to sweeten the cream, turning it back into a rather loose sauce to serve with the pears.
2- TO 3½-QUART
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup water
6 red plums, halved and pitted
½ cup brandy
⅛ tsp ground cinammon
4- TO 5½-QUART
1½ cups sugar
½ cup water
10 red plums, halved and pitted
⅔ cup brandy
¼ tsp ground cinammon
6- TO 8-QUART
2 cups sugar
⅔ cup water
12 red plums, halved and pitted
1 cup brandy
½ tsp ground cinammon
1 Pour the sugar into a large, high-sided skillet. Set it over medium-low heat and melt the sugar, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
2 Pour in the water, but watch out: it will splatter like mad. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves into a caramel sauce. Pour and scrape the sauce into the slow cooker.
3 Place the plums cut side down in the cooker. Drizzle the brandy over them, then sprinkle with cinnamon.
4 Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, or until the plums are tender and the sauce is bubbling. Use a thin spatula to transfer the plums to serving bowls, then spoon the sauce over them.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• The sugar will seize into a ball the moment the water hits the pan. Put any children and pets out of the kitchen. Work carefully; keep stirring until that sugar melts again.
• For a richer dessert, dot up to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into little bits, among the plums before cooking.
2- TO 3½-QUART
3 ripe firm bananas, peeled and cut into 1-inch segments
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup apricot jam
2 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces, plus more for greasing the canister
4- TO 5½-QUART
5 ripe firm bananas, peeled and cut into 1-inch segments
6 tblsp packed light brown sugar
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
6 tblsp apricot jam
3½ tblsp unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces, plus more for greasing the canister
6- TO 8-QUART
8 ripe firm bananas, peeled and cut into 1-inch segments
⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
1¼ tsp ground cinnamon
⅔ cup apricot jam
6 tblsp unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces, plus more for greasing the canister
1 Butter the inside of the canister. Toss the banana slices, brown sugar, and cinnamon in the cooker until the sugar coats the bananas evenly.
2 Dollop the jam in teaspoonfuls evenly over everything. Sprinkle the butter bits over everything.
3 Cover and cook on low for 1½ hours in a small slow cooker, 2 hours in a medium cooker, or 2½ hours in a large one, or until the bananas are soft and the sauce is bubbling around them.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• You can hardly flambé bananas foster in a slow cooker! Still and all, this slow cooker riff will be welcome over vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt, or (especially) gelato.
• We used apricot jam here because many recipes for bananas foster call for the dish to be flamed with apricot brandy.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
⅔ cup cored, peeled, and chopped fresh pears, such as Comice
⅓ cup water
3 tblsp cassis or other black currant liqueur
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground cloves
⅛ tsp salt
4- TO 5½-QUART
6 cups fresh cranberries
1½ cups sugar
1 cup cored, peeled, and chopped fresh pears, such as Comice
½ cup water
¼ cup cassis or other black currant liqueur
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
6- TO 8-QUART
8 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
1⅓ cups cored, peeled, and chopped fresh pears, such as Comice
⅔ cup water
6 tblsp cassis or other black currant liqueur
¾ tsp ground allspice
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
1 Stir the cranberries, sugar, pears, water, liqueur, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in the slow cooker until the sugar dissolves.
2 Cover and cook on low for 3 hours, or until the cranberries are soft.
3 Use a potato masher to smash the cranberries into a puree right in the slow cooker. Stir well, cover, and continue cooking on high for 1 hour, or until bubbling and aromatic.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Although we think of this as an ice cream sauce, it could just as well be ladled over plain yogurt, particularly Greek yogurt.
• Cranberries are not available year round. Stock up when you see them and toss the bags in your freezer.
• This sauce will freeze well in a sealed glass jar or plastic container for up to 4 months.
2- TO 3½-QUART
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
½ cup unsweetened pineapple juice
¼ cup sugar
2 tblsp water
1 tblsp cornstarch
4- TO 5½-QUART
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 tblsp cornstarch
6- TO 8-QUART
3 cups fresh blueberries
3 cups fresh blackberries
3 cups fresh raspberries
1½ cups unsweetened pineapple juice
¾ cup sugar
6 tblsp water
3 tblsp cornstarch
1 Stir the blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, pineapple juice, and sugar in the slow cooker until the sugar dissolves.
2 Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the berries begin to break down into a sauce.
3 Whisk the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth, then stir this mixture into the berry sauce until dissolved. Cover and continue cooking on high for 30 minutes, or until thickened.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• We don’t recommend using frozen berries for this easy sauce. They will have broken down a bit in thawing and may well be too wet.
• Add up to ¼ cup brandy or rum with the juice for a boozy version.
Serve It Up! Although great over ice cream and in sundaes, drizzle this sauce over pieces of pound cake—or ladle a bit onto plates and set a piece of sponge cake afloat on top. Or layer it into trifles and parfaits.
When we told an editor at a rather chic food magazine over dinner one night that we were writing a mammoth slow cooker book, she said, as she poured herself another glass of wine, “Are there going to be drinks in that thing?”
Frankly, we hadn’t thought about it. But there have to be drinks! It’s hard to imagine a better tool for mulling wine or creating some pretty wicked hot libations for a midwinter night. We even did a slow cooker morph on that retro drink favored in the Upper Midwest during the holidays: the Tom and Jerry, sort of a stiff eggnog.
But it’s not all about alcohol here. The slow cooker can keep a pretty fine hot cocoa warm for hours as well as mull a decidedly delicious cider. Better yet, you can mix these drinks, then set the slow cooker on a buffet or near the bar, letting your guests serve themselves (so long as you make sure the lid goes back in place to keep the punch warm). And you don’t have to worry about alcohol igniting around an open flame, as it might on the stovetop. In fact, that may be the best reason to make a punch in our favorite appliance.
When you come to think about it, it’s hard to imagine why we hadn’t thought of drinks right off the bat when we started working on this enormous book. After all, when we thought about testing and writing over 500 recipes, we sure could have used one of these.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups (1 quart) milk
½ cup sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup malted milk powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
4- TO 5½-QUART
8 cups (½ gallon) milk
1 cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup malted milk powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
6- TO 8-QUART
12 cups (3 quarts) milk
1½ cups sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup malted milk powder
1 tblsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp salt
1 Whisk the milk, sugar, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, vanilla, and salt in the slow cooker until smooth, no bits of undissolved cocoa powder or sugar anywhere.
2 Cover and cook on low for 3 hours, or until the mixture is hot and well blended. Ladle into mugs to serve.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• The only real trick here is to whisk the ingredients smooth in the canister. Dutch-processed cocoa powder will blend more quickly, although it will also offer a less-chocolaty flavor.
• For quicker blending, use superfine sugar, sometimes called bar sugar, often available near the drink mixings and club soda in the supermarket, or in the baking goods aisle.
• If you want to go over the top, substitute half-and-half for part of the milk.
• If your crock has a nonstick finish, you need to use a whisk specifically designed for nonstick surfaces.
2- TO 3½-QUART
3 cups milk
2 cups coconut milk
⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup bourbon
4- TO 5½-QUART
4½ cups (1 quart plus ½ cup) milk
3 cups coconut milk
½ cup packed light brown sugar
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
½ tblsp vanilla extract
¾ cup bourbon
6- TO 8-QUART
6½ cups (1 quart plus 2½ cups) milk
4⅓ cups coconut milk
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
4½ ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tblsp bourbon
1 Whisk the milk, coconut milk, brown sugar, white chocolate, and vanilla in the slow cooker until the brown sugar dissolves.
2 Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes. Stir well, then cover and continue cooking on low for 2½ hours, or until smooth and mellow.
3 Stir in the bourbon before serving.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Bourbon gives hot cocoa a smooth, aromatic hit—in our books, more in keeping with its spirit than whiskey or rum. If you want a much cleaner taste, substitute vodka.
• If you want to forgo the alcohol, stir in a similar amount of unsweetened pineapple juice before serving.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW White chocolate is not all created equal. The best white chocolate is simply cocoa butter with a stabilizer or two, rather than with hydrogenated shortening and artificial flavorings. In fact, even white chocolate made only from cocoa butter varies in quality. Look for brands that are not “deodorized.” They retain more of the dark chocolate taste, something removed from some varieties for a milder flavor in baking.
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 cups unsweetened apple cider
⅔ cup cranberry juice
⅔ cup orange juice
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
Up to ¼ cup honey
2 tblsp very thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
1 4-inch cinnamon stick
4- TO 5½-QUART
4 cups (1 quart) unsweetened apple cider
1⅓ cups cranberry juice
1⅓ cups orange juice
⅔ cup fresh lemon juice
Up to ½ cup honey
¼ cup very thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
2 4-inch cinnamon sticks
6- TO 8-QUART
7 cups unsweetened apple cider
3 cups cranberry juice
3 cups orange juice
1¼ cups fresh lemon juice
Up to ¾ cup honey
½ cup very thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
3 4-inch cinnamon sticks
1 Stir the cider, juices, honey, ginger, and cinnamon sticks in the slow cooker.
2 Cover and cook on low for 3 hours on high or 5 hours on low, or until deeply aromatic. Fish out the ginger slices and cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon before ladling into mugs.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Substitute unsweetened apple juice for the cider, but the resulting punch will have less body.
• If desired, add up to 4 whole cloves and 3 allspice berries along with the other ingredients. For a very sophisticated finish, toss in a green cardamom pod as well. Remove all of these before serving.
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW To slice the ginger properly, first cut a piece of the root a couple of inches long, then peel this piece with a vegetable peeler, taking care to remove only the papery skin. Slice into paper-thin coins. If needed, cut another piece, peel, and make more coins, as the recipe requires.
2- TO 3½-QUART
3 cups unsweetened apple cider
3 cups dry, fruit-forward red wine, such as American Zinfandel
¼ cup honey
¼ cup orange juice
1 4-inch cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
4- TO 5½-QUART
4½ cups unsweetened apple cider
4½ cups dry, fruit-forward red wine, such as American Zinfandel
6 tblsp honey
6 tblsp orange juice
1½ 4-inch cinnamon sticks
3 star anise
6- TO 8-QUART
6½ cups unsweetened apple cider
6½ cups dry, fruit-forward red wine, such as American Zinfandel
⅔ cup honey
⅔ cup orange juice
2 4-inch cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
1 Mix the cider, wine, honey, orange juice, cinnamon sticks, and star anise in the slow cooker until the honey dissolves.
2 Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours, or until gorgeously aromatic. Remove the cinnamon sticks and star anise with a slotted spoon before serving.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Not a true mulled wine, and also not a Scandinavian glögg, this hot punch is a hybrid, with apple cider added for body and a silky finish.
• A vanilla bean, split lengthwise, would enhance this drink as well.
• Never pour mulled wine into a standard wine glass—the punch can shatter it. Instead, ladle this into mugs.
• For a boozy finish, top the mugfuls with a splash of aquavit or eau-de-vie.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups (1 quart) strong brewed coffee
⅔ cup blended whiskey
¼ cup Amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur
¼ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream or other Irish cream whiskey liqueur
4- TO 5½-QUART
6 cups (1½ quarts) strong brewed coffee
1 cup blended whiskey
½ cup Amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur
½ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream or other Irish cream whiskey liqueur
6- TO 8-QUART
10 cups (2½ quarts) strong brewed coffee
1⅔ cups blended whiskey
¾ cup Amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur
¾ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream or other Irish cream whiskey liqueur
1 Mix the coffee, whiskey, amaretto, and liqueur in the slow cooker.
2 Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Ladle into mugs and top each with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• The stronger the coffee, the better. That said, espresso may be too assertive. When you prepare drip coffee, use an extra scoop or two of ground coffee.
• Don’t waste a single malt on this. Instead, use a sturdy but mellow whiskey made from a blend of various years.
• Substitute rum for the whiskey for a more tropical flare.
2- TO 3½-QUART
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
⅛ tsp salt
3 cups unsweetened apple cider
1½ cups water
1 cup gold rum
½ cup dark rum, such as Myers’s
4- TO 5½-QUART
1½ cups packed light brown sugar
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
6 cups unsweetened apple cider
3 cups water
2 cups gold rum
1 cup dark rum, such as Myers’s
6- TO 8-QUART
2¼ cups packed light brown sugar
12 tblsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tblsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg
¾ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
9 cups unsweetened apple cider
4½ cups water
3 cups gold rum
1½ cups dark rum, such as Myers’s
1 Mash the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a large bowl with a pastry cutter or a table fork until a smooth paste forms. Set aside at room temperature.
2 Stir the cider, water, and both rums in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours.
3 To serve, put 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture in a large mug, then ladle the hot cider-and-rum concoction on top.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• Skiing, anyone? A mug of this will make the day right.
• The butter mixture can be saved for more go-rounds in the future. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap right down on top of the butter mixture in the bowl, then refrigerate for up to 1 month.
2- TO 3½-QUART
4 cups (1 quart) milk (whole or low-fat)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground allspice
⅛ tsp ground cloves
⅛ tsp grated nutmeg
⅛ tsp salt
Up to 1½ cups gold rum
4- TO 5½-QUART
8 cups (½ gallon) milk (whole or low-fat)
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1½ tblsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
Up to 3 cups gold rum
6- TO 8-QUART
12 cups (3 quarts) milk (whole or low-fat)
9 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
2 tblsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp salt
Up to 4½ cups gold rum
1 Turn the slow cooker to the keep warm setting and cover.
2 Heat the milk in a large saucepan set over medium-low heat until bubbles begin to fizz around the interior edge.
3 Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until thick and pale, almost fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
4 With the mixer at medium speed, beat about a third of the hot milk into the egg mixture. Continue beating until smooth, scraping down the inside of the bowl at least once. Beat the mixture into the milk in the pan, again using an electric mixer at medium speed.
5 Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, just until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
6 Pour the mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and keep warm for up to 6 hours.
7 To serve, pour about 2 ounces (1 tablespoon) rum in a mug and top with the milk custard. Garnish with whipped cream, if desired.
TESTERS’ NOTES
• This cocktail has been long a tradition at Upper Midwestern holiday parties and certain Wisconsin restaurants. It’s ridiculously retro and indulgent.
• No, the slow cooker doesn’t really “make” the drink. Instead, the slow cooker is the perfect tool for keeping it warm during the whole party. What a perfect way to end our book!