‘And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.’ — Acts 2:3
Have you thought about what you’re going to flambé for Pentecost?
I feel strongly that if you’re going to set your brunch on fire, Pentecost is your day. It’ll add to the liturgical celebration. So here are a few desserts you can ignite for the perfect Pentecost brunch.
Fruit is your friend
When it comes to desserts, I normally gravitate toward Oreo-encrusted donuts and brownies loaded with peanut butter cups. In my book, chocolate, cookies, and candy win out over fruit any day. I’ll save my fruit for smoothies. My ideal brunch would be a leaden hunk of cookie dough cheesecake and a strong cup of coffee.
However, if you’re like me, you’ll need to rethink your aversion to fruit in desserts when it comes to flambéing. The flame does something magical to the fruit, and the butter, sugar, and rum don’t hurt, either.
When planning your flambé pièce de résistance, I encourage you to make it fruit forward. Traditional dishes like bananas Foster and cherries jubilee are classics for a reason.
Bananas Foster is a treat comprised of sliced bananas in a caramelized brown sugar, butter, and rum sauce. The dish is briefly lit before serving. Velvety and sweet, it makes an amazing topping for waffles, pancakes, or ice cream. In fact, I just made bananas Foster last night. I was a little skeptical about a banana dish, but it did not disappoint. The butter, brown sugar, and cream bubbled into a beautiful spiked caramel sauce, and the soft, cooked bananas tasted just like banana bread. Bananas Foster would really sing on thick slices of French toast, but it was pretty darn good on a spoon, too.
Cherries jubilee is made by simmering cherries with sugar and orange zest. After it’s cooked, it’s pulled off the heat, given some brandy, and lit. Once the flames die down, it’s usually served over ice cream, but serving the cherry sauce over waffles and whipped cream could be heavenly.
You could also try peach flambé, which is peach slices cooked in butter and brown sugar, then flambéed with rum. Or, if you’re feeling especially motivated, you could try your hand at crêpes Suzette, which are crepes simmered in an orange butter sauce, then flambéed with Grand Marnier and cognac.
Flambéing safely
So, what, exactly, is flambéing? In the case of our desserts, it’s adding alcohol to the fruit sauce before lighting it on fire.
This is one situation where we don’t want to imitate the apostles. We’ll let the tongues of fire rest on them. As for us, we’ll follow some safety precautions.
Once your fruit sauce has simmered in the saucepan for a few minutes, it’s time to flambé.
First, pull back long hair and push up your sleeves.
Second, have a long-handled lighter nearby to safely ignite the sauce.
Third, keep a lid handy to quickly cover the saucepan if the fire gets out of hand.
Fourth, don’t turn on the hood vent. It can pull up the flames.
Fifth, when choosing your flambéing liquor, pick an eighty-proof one like brandy, cognac, or rum, but nothing stronger unless you want to flambé your eyebrows.
Sixth, your alcohol should be warm before you ignite it, but do not microwave it. Instead, pour it into a measuring up, turn off the burner, and then pour the alcohol into the hot sauce to warm it up. Make sure the burner is off before lighting the sauce.
Seventh, if you’ve ignited your sauce, do not try to pump up your flambé by pouring alcohol from the bottle into the flaming pan. The flame can travel up the stream to the bottle, causing it to explode.
Whew!
Don’t let your audience miss the flame
Here’s another important tip: If you’re troubling yourself to make a show-stopping brunch, make sure it’s a show. If your flambé goes like mine, it’s going to be awesome but brief. Make sure your guests don’t miss it.
Before adding the spirits, gather everyone you’re trying to impress. Once they’re in sight of the pan, turn off the burner. Using a measuring cup, pour the liquor into the pan. Let it warm briefly as anticipation builds.
Now is your moment of glory. Using your long-handled lighter, carefully ignite your sauce. A nice flame should spread across the pan. Enjoy the oohs and ahhs as you get to be everyone’s favorite chef for the day. Once the flame has died down, it’s ready to be served.
I hope your brunch is a flaming success! Because you know what the kids say about Pentecost: It’s lit.
Meg Matenaer is a wife, mom, social media writer, and author residing in the Diocese of Madison.