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      Introduction

      The Instant Pot®, which debuted in 2009, quickly became a wildly popular countertop kitchen appliance, winning millions ofenthusiastic fans eager to praise its ability to cut cooking time, turn tough cuts of meat fork-tender, and cook such mealtime staples as beans and grains with just the press of a button. Master the basic functions of thiswhisper-silent, electric, programmable pressure cooker, its admirers say, and you can give away your pressure cooker, slow cooker, and rice cooker because the Instant Pot®can do everything they can—and more.

      Sauté, stew, steam, pressure cook, slow cook—the Instant Pot®does them all for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And its versatility doesn’t stop at omelets, risottos, chilis, and other savory recipes. This indispensable pot also offers up a robust repertoire of dinnertime desserts and daytime sweets that rivals what’s possible with both conventional ovens and stove-top cooking. With just a couple of basic functions, you can cook a rich cheesecake in about a half hour, a sticky-sweet monkey bread in just over twenty minutes, and creamy rice pudding in less than five minutes.

      What’s more, the Instant Pot®, with its smart sensors and precision timing, takes the guesswork out of “baking.”While a conventional oven toooften produces a sunken orcracked cheesecake and dry-crumbed cakes and sweet breads, the controlled steam of an Instant Pot® delivers silky-smooth cheesecakes and dense, moist cakes and breads every time. In the following pages, you’ll find a primer on how the pot works along with recipes for these sweet favorites and more. Armed with this knowledge, countertop cooking will become your go-to way for putting a brunch-time coffee cake or supper-time pots de crème on the table.