Recipes : Roasted pineapple with caramelized spices
Dessert : Ingredients
Ananas rôti au caramel d'épices
- - Serves 4 to 6
- - Preparation 30 minutes
- - Cooking 40 minutes
- - 1 ripe pineapple
- - 8 long pepper beans (or, if not avalaible, add a bit more ginger)
- - 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz, 10 g) ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
- - 1 vanilla bean
- - 1 3/4 cups (14 oz, 350 g) sugar
Preparation of the recipe
1/ Cut the base of the pineapple so it will stand up.
Peel from the top to the bottom, and remove the "eyes" following a spiral pattern.
2/ Preheat the oven to 400'F (200'C) .
3/ Heat a heavy-botton pan, pour in half the sugar, and make a caramel, stiring with a wooder spoon.
Then add the rest of the sugar and continue stiring until the sugar is completely dissolved and the caramel is smooth.
4/ Lower the heat and add 6 tablespoons water (be careful it doesn't splatter and burn you).
Mix well, and repeat this procedure three times.
When the caramel is well mixed, add the long peppers and the ginger.
Cook for 5 minutes over low heat.
Then, off the heat, add the seeds of the vanilla bean.
5/ Put the pineapple in a roasting pan, moisten with the caramel, and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn the fruit around, moisten with the liquid caramel, and bake for 20 minutes.
6/ Serve the fruit whole, or cut it in vertical slices, coated with the caramel and spices.
Chef's comments Here is a festival of flavors : the peppery ginger and long pepper, and the acidity of the pineapple.
(Note of the translator : Small pineapples roasted with caramel sauce have become a popular Parisian dessert. As they tend to be sweet, adding pepper and ginger is a good idea. So might be caraway, even fresh celery bits.).
Philippe Delacourcelle