READY IN 30 mins

Classic Cherries Jubilee

Read Reviews (28)

"This is a great, refreshing dessert especially after a hearty meal. This does have to be prepared immediately before serving, but does not take a lot of time. Your guests will enjoy the blue flames when the brandy is ignited!" — Wilemon

Directions

Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch in a wide saucepan. Stir in the water and orange juice; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking until thickened. Stir in the cherries and orange zest, return to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. While the cherries are cooking, spoon the ice cream into serving bowls.
Remove the cherries from the heat, and stir in the cherry extract. Pour in the brandy, and ignite with a long lighter. Gently shake the pan until the blue flame has extinguished itself. Spoon the cherries over the bowls of ice cream.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 10 mins
COOK 20 mins
READY IN 30 mins

Footnotes

The flames may get quite high when flambeing, so pay attention to anything flammable above and around where you ignite the cherries. When the initial large flame has died down, a small blue flame will continue to burn for several seconds. Shake or stir the cherries gently to expose more alcohol to the flame, being careful that they do not burn. The goal is to have the small, blue flame burn for as long as possible, thereby reducing the raw alcohol flavor, caramelizing the sugars, and entertaining your guests!

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jul 08, 2007

Delicious & easy to make. I didn't have any cherry extract on hand, so I followed a previous reviewer's advice & substituted with almond extract. Unfortunately we lit the pan outside, and couldn't see the blue flame because it was too bright out. We could hear the flame interestingly enough & feel the heat, so we knew it worked. My advice would be to light the flame in a darker setting so you can enjoy the display. We'll do this one again.

—NICOLE B

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Jun 13, 2011

Too many ingredients. If you have good cherries/fresh or canned just use the juice and you dont need extract.

—jpm4444

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33 Ratings

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Jul 05, 2007

Makes great pie filling! I had a bunch of fresh cherries to use up, and almost all the recepies I was interested in needed pie filling. I came across this and thought - 2 desserts in one! Sometimes cherry pie filling is just too "cherry". I like rich flavor that comes from the addition of orange and brandy. Plus I used almond extract instead of cherry extract. We ate 2 servings of it right away as Cherries Jubilee, and saved the left overs for Cherry Crisp the next day. Wonderful!

—smiruz

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Jun 01, 2008

Excellent and I made a few substitions. I used 1/2 teas Brandy extract and 1/2 teas vanilla extract instead of the brand and cherry extract. Whole family loved it!

—KATTORREZ

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Jul 20, 2009

We had so many fresh cherries to use up that I made half batches of this recipe three nights in a row! The first night, I had no flames at all. The second night, they became slightly visible. The third night, they were huge like others described! I had to change a few things to get it to happen. First, I heated the brandy for 15 seconds in the microwave right before attempting to light it. Second, I didn't remove the pan from the heat until I had already lit the brandy. I was following the directions and removing from heat but not getting flames. I think part of the reason is that the temperature of the pan was going too cool right as I was trying to light. I will make this again and again now that I got the flames! I also omitted the orange zest and subbed almond extract for cherry; it was still awesome!

—Bsols

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Sep 28, 2009

This is one of our favorite recipes for entertaining. Nearly always use the cherry juice rather than water and sometimes, when out of brandy, have subtituted a Portuguese almond liqueur. Whichever way it is always a hit.

—EILISH40

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Sep 16, 2008

Wow, I feel like a world class chef! This was easy and delicious and my guests were amazed! I made just two changes, I left out the water and subbed cherry juice from the can and I forgot the cherry extract and it still turned out beautiful. I almost messed it up by stirring in the brandy, but my husband stopped me in time and instead I just poured it over the top and then lit it with a long match (I was so worried that it wouldn't light up) blue flames sprouted and when they started to go out I tipped the pan a little to keep them going as long as possible. Thanks for the excellent recipe!

—Samitestar

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Jul 20, 2009

This is a delicious dessert with the added drama of the flambe. I had some cherries in the fridge and didn't know what to do with them and decided to give this a try. Most of the ingredients I had on hand except for the cherry extract. I couldn't find that at my grocery store so I used almond extract instead. The flambe effect was a big hit, and it tasted delicious over vanilla ice cream. I'll be making this again when I have a dinner party for the presentation alone.

—cookiecutter

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Nutrition

Calories
296 kcal
15%

Carbohydrates
48.3 g
16%

Cholesterol
29 mg
10%

Fat
8 g
12%

Fiber
2.3 g
9%

Protein
3.3 g
7%

Sodium
53 mg
2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Classic Cherries Jubilee

Serving Size: 1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 296
** Calories from Fat: 72

% Daily Value *
** Total Fat 8g 12 %
** Saturated Fat 4.6g 23 %
** Cholesterol 29mg 10 %
** Sodium 53mg 2 %
** Potassium 322mg 9 %
** Total Carbohydrates 48.3g 16 %
** Dietary Fiber 2.3g 9 %
** Protein 3.3g 7 %
** Sugars 42.3g
** Vitamin A 9 %
** Vitamin C 18 %
** Calcium 12 %
** Iron 4 %
** Thiamin 7 %
** Niacin 8 %
** Vitamin B6 4 %
** Magnesium 7 %
** Folate 5 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.