Caramelised Pineapple Tart

Ed Halmagyi 2012 “The Food Clock: a year of cooking seasonally” Australia

Caramelised Pineapple Tart

Serves 6

165g (1/4 cup) caster sugar; 2 tsp softened unsalted butter; ½ pineapple, peeled; 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, thawed; vanilla bean ice cream, to serve

1 Preheat the oven to 210°C

2 Put the sugar and butter in an ovenproof frying pan and set over moderate heat. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes until well caramelised. Remove from heat.

3 Slice the pineapple into 5mm thick pieces and remove the core. Arrange the pineapple slices decoratively on the caramel, then return to the heat and cook for 3 minutes.

4 Place the pastry sheets on top of one another and roll out to form a 25cm square. Trim off the corners to shape into a circle and drape over the pineapple. Tuck in the edge, then bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry has risen. Reduce the temperature to 170°C and  bake for a further 15 minutes until the pastry is crisp.

5 Invert the tart onto a plate, then cut into slices and serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

Pineapple Curd Tart

Thanks for these photos and recipe Marie R! It looks delicious!

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/recipes/pineapple-curd-tart

Ingredients for 10 servings

250g gingernut biscuits, broken; 250g butter, chopped; 1/3 cup moist coconut flakes; 2 free range eggs; 3  egg yolks; 1 1/2 cups caster sugar 1 and 1 half cups caster sugar; 2 tbs cornflour; 3/4 cup pineapple juice; 1 1/3 cups thickened cream; 1/2 pineapple, cut in half, sliced; 2/3 cup sour cream

Method

Place biscuits and 2 tbs coconut in a food processor. Process until crushed. Melt 125g butter, and add to biscuits. Process until combined. Press mixture over base and side of a 11x33cm (base) loose-based rectangular fluted tart pan. Chill for 15 minutes.

Place remaining butter, eggs, egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Whisk cornflour with 1/2 cup pineapple juice. Add to butter mixture. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, whisking, for 10-15 minutes or until thickened and curd coats the back of a spoon. Spoon curd into biscuit shell. Smooth. Chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place remaining sugar in a large non-stick frying pan with remaining juice. Stir over low heat for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Add pineapple. Increase heat. Boil for 5 minutes or until golden. Cool. Transfer pineapple to a sheet of baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat cream and sour cream in a large bowl until stiff peaks start to form. Toast remaining coconut. Serve tart topped with cream, caramelised pineapple, toasted coconut and caramel syrup.

Caramelised pineapple brandy snaps

I made this recipe up when I discovered some brandy snaps on sale at the local supermarket! Eat with caution - they are soooo sweet! And sticky ... Anne

8 brandy snap cases; 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple; 50g butter; 2 tblspn brown sugar; 100ml thickened cream; 1 tblsp icing sugar; 1 tsp brandy

Prepare the caramelsied pineapple by melting the butter, stirring in the brown sugar and finely chopped pineapple, and cooking until the pineapple is soft.

Prepare the cream by beating the thickened cream with the icing sugar and brandy until very thick.

Using a piping syringe squeeze the cream into one end of the brandy snap cases, and the caramelsied pineapple into the other end, until the cases are about half and half filled with each. 

Toffeed Pineapple and Marmalade Mascapone Vol-au-vents

Adapted from a recipe in July 2006 New Zealand House and Garden magazine. These are easy and delicious. The original recipe gives instructions on how to make the vol-au-vents from scratch - but I cheated and bought ready mades in the supermarket that were light and crisp, Anne

Serves 4

50g butter; 80g caster sugar (I used brown sugar); ½ pineapple, peeled, cored and flesh cut into 2cm chunks; 150ml cream; 100g mascarpone; 2 tblspn fine cut marmalade (I used pineapple and macadamia jam); 1 tblspn brandy or rum

Place butter in a wide pan and cook over moderate heat until a light nut brown. Add caster (or brown) sugar and cook stirring often until caramelised and golden. Add the pineapple – it will make the caramel seize but keep cooking and eventually it will melt again. Cover pan and cook pineapple until it’s easy to push a knife through. Add cream and gently boil, uncovered, 8-10 minutes to reduce liquid a little.

Combine the mascarpone, marmalade, brandy or rum. To serve dollop mascarpone into warmed vol-au-vets. Spoon hot pineapple on top and drizzle with sauce from the pan. Serve immediately.

Thanks for the lovely jam hamper Griffith family!! 

Somali flatbread and pineapple

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Canberra drew my attention to this delicious recipe from Halimo Isaac. Her story of resilience and initiative can be read on this website

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/02/cooking-pancakes-somali-refugees-malawah

Malawah (A sweet flatbread) 

Serves 2 – 4

Ingredients: ½ tsp salt; 1 cup sugar; 3 cups flour; 3 cups milk; 2 eggs; 1 - 2 tblsp vegetable oil for frying; 20cm flat-bottom frying pan

Directions:

Whisk together first five ingredients until totally smooth. Mixture should be thin. Add water if too thick.

Heat oil in pan for 10 minutes. Spoon batter into center and use back of spoon to spread batter out. Fry each Malawah individually over medium-low heat.

Flip after bottom is browned. Eat for breakfast with spiced milk tea.

These malawah are delicious with tea, but as I was keen to feature them on this blog which is about pineapple I also teamed them up with caramelised pineapple!! Beautiful!

 

The Only Cookbook You'll Ever Need, Zoë Camrass 1977 London

 

Caramelised pineapple

Serves 4

50g butter; 2 tblspn honey; 1 pineapple, peeled, cut in 1cm slices and cored; 1 tblspn brown sugar; juice of ½ lemon; 50g toasted almonds

Melt the butter in a large frying-pan. Stir in the honey, and when the mixture bubbles add the pineapple rings. Sprinkle with the sugar and cook quickly for 1 minute. Turn, baste with the syrup and sprinkle with the lemon juice.

Overlap the pineapple rings on a warmed serving platter, sprinkle the almonds on top and serve at once.

Coconut Chia Pudding with Caramelised Pineapple

 

http://hercanberra.com.au/cpfood/coconut-chia-pudding-with-caramelised-pineapple//

 

Totally delicious, highy recommended!    Thanks Jess!     Makes 4

Ingredients:

1 400ml tin coconut cream; 1/4 cup chia seeds; 3 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/2 pineapple sliced into 1cm slices, cored; Coconut oil (or butter)

To serve: toasted candied (or normal) nuts of any variety and coconut cream

Method:

1. To make the pudding: In the mixing bowl, mix together the coconut cream, chia seeds, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Cover with glad wrap and pop into the fridge to set for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

2. To make the caramelised pineapple: Melt a bit of coconut oil (or butter) in the fry pan, add the pineapples slices and cook until browned, then flip and brown on the other side. Once browned, remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

3. To assemble the puddings: Divide the coconut chia mixture among your jars, top with caramelised coconut. When ready to eat, top with coconut cream and toasted nuts.

Storage:

Chia puddings will keep in jars in the fridge for up to five days.

 

Caramelised Pineapple and Ginger Tart

ABC Delicious: Wicked, Sinful Desserts from your Favourite Chefs
2002 Australia Photographs by Ian Wallace

 

 

Serge Dansereau, Chef, The Bather's Pavilion, Sydney

Caramelised Pineapple and Ginger Tart

“I love this dessert because of the unusual fruit it uses. Pineapple is not an easy fruit to turn into a dessert because of its great sweetness; married with ginger and coconut ice-cream it blends beautifully to create a classic dessert that I feel is a lip-smacking sensation“ Serge

125ml (½ cup) milk; 65g caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle; 1 vanilla bean, split; 10g plain flour; 15g cornflour; 4 egg yolks; 100ml pineapple juice; 450ml thin cream, whipped; coconut ice-cream, to serve

Strudel tartshell: 6 sheets filo pastry; meted butter, to brush; icing sugar, to dust

Pineapple and ginger confit: 1 pineapple, cut into 1/2cm dice; 2 apples, diced; 200g caster sugar; 25g unsalted butter; 50g stem (or candied) ginger

To make the strudel tartshell, brush a sheet of the pastry with melted butter and dust with the icing sugar. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheets layering them at an angle. Use the pastry stack to line the base and side of a shallow 24cm loose-bottomed flan or quiche pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to cool.

Preheat oven to 190ºC. Remove pastry from fridge, trim any excess pastry, then line with non-stick baking paper and fill with rice or pastry weights. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the rice and baking paper and return to the oven for 5 minutes until golden brown.

To male the confit, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture is thick and all the liquid is absorbed.

To make the custard, place the milk, sugar and vanilla bean in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reserve a little of the milk mixture and whisk in the flour, cornflour and egg yolks. Add to the remaining milk and whisk thoroughly while cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the pineapple juice and return to the boil. Remove from heat and strain, discarding the vanilla bean. Set aside to chill.

Just before serving, fold together the whipped cream and the custard. Spread the tart with the pineapple confit, then top with the custard. Sprinkle the top with the extra sugar and use a blow torch (or place under high grill) to caramelise the top. Serve with coconut ice-cream.

Serves 8.

Illuminated Pineapple

Super Natural Cookery: Recipes for Vegetarian Gourmets, Written by Jim Corlett, Illustrations by Dave Colin New Zealand 1978

Les Doigts d’Ananas aux Doigts

“These are, if you want it in English, fingers of pineapple eaten with the fingers. Simply cut the pineapple from top to bottom 8-12 times to make long sections – as shown below.

Serve with a candle in the top, and congratulate yourself on having avoided the messy cutting off of the rind. Besides, it’s perfectly correct as it is perfectly Hawaiian” Jim Corlett.

Flaming Pineapple  

If you have the patience, you can peel the pineapple, and then cut it into cubes. Sprinkle on a bit of raw dark brown sugar, or spread on one of the more exotic honeys, such as cactus or citrus blossom. Grill for a moment until the pineapple is thoroughly warmed and the sweetener melted in. Remove from heat and garnish with ‘roses’ made from whipped double cream piped on with a pastry tube. If your views on alcohol will allow you to use a bit in cooking, pour a brandy over the cubes, and set on fire at serving time.

We tossed some freshly picked blueberries on top of the cream and the flavours were wonderful!

For all the fun, and pure pineapple, merely soak the leaves in brandy, and fire them. Spectacular in a dark room for a party.

 

Just to be safe we put our pineapple outside on a rock. Les sliced the top leaves off and dried then in a slow oven before soaking in alcohol. We pegged the leaves back on with a toothpick. It really was spectacular and the pineapple remained totally unharmed and edible! Anne

Chafed pineapple

Margaret Fulton Cookbook Sydney 1979 (first published 1968).

Chafing Dish Pineapple

1 ripe pineapple, peeled and diced or a large tin of pineapple pieces (drained); 100g butter; 1/3 cup rum; 1 ½ tblspn brown sugar; 300ml cream

In the blazer of a chaffing dish, or in a frypan, sauté the pineapple in butter until pieces are golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar and rum. Cook until all liquid is absorbed. Add cream and serve as soon as cream is heated through.

12 Pineapple Quickies

The pineapple cookbook, 12 favourite recipes from the Dole kitchen, Honolulu, Hawaii

Stir a cup of well drained crushed pineapple into mashed sweet potatoes and sprinkle with a dash or two of nutmeg. Top each serving with a chunk of butter.

Mix fresh or frozen whole strawberries with a little brown sugar and cinnamon, then combine with drained chilled pineapple chunks. Refreshing zip to an easy dessert.

Add drained pineapple chunks, or crushed pineapple, to coleslaw for a bright flavour change.

Combine a cup of drained crushed pineapple with a small jar of orange marmalade. Marvellous combination for ice cream, waffles, even toast!

Stir a cup of drained pineapple chunks into Harvard beets for a delightful new taste combination.

Top chilled pineapple chunks with sour cream and a sprinkling of brown sugar.

Sprinkle pineapple slices with sugar and nutmeg, then dot with butter. Bake in a hot oven about 10 minutes. Excellent with ice cream!

Fold crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges into sweetened whipped topping or cream. Marvelous mousse!

Stir two tablespoons of horseradish and one tablespoon mustard into a drained #2 can of crushed pineapple. Tingly relish for meats and sandwiches.

Fill cornucopias of salami with drained crushed pineapple. Secure with toothpicks for a quick trick appetizer.

Top pineapple slices with mounds of kidney bean salad. Add crumbled blue cheese for a new flavour.

Wrap pineapple chunks with half slices of bacon and hold with toothpicks. Brown until bacon is crisp. Appetizing!

Thanks Kylie and Sue for these wonderful additions to my pineapply t towel collection!! Anne

Pineapple Heaven

My niece, Georgina, sent this email from London while she was visiting her sister, Katrina, and Tom recently.

“We had an amazing London lunch today at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant Dinner. I feel very spoilt. One of the desserts was Tipsy Cake, featuring spit roasted pineapple with brioche. I took some photos for you! A few through the window to the kitchen featuring the spit roasting, and one of the actual desserts.

I didn't actually get the dessert myself (although three people in our party did). I did get to have a taste and it was nice. I think there is some kind of glaze put on at some point in the roasting process, and sugar and cinnamon sounds about right”.

Thanks for that Georgina! We had to try it for ourselves and, wow, it was one of our best pineapple combinations yet!

Les peeled a spiral around the pineapple and spit roasted it for about an hour, basting it occasionally with melted butter mixed with a little sugar and cinnamon.

He is usually the bread baker in our family but I thought I’d have a go at baking some brioches (yes, I did check the plural of brioche), found a recipe and the combination was sensational! Anne.

I found a fascinating article by Heston Blumenthal online. He includes a recipe for roast pineapple, with pineapple and chilli jelly, and crab syrup that he describes as a fantastic dessert!                                                                                                                              

“The proof of the pudding ... “ by Heston Blumenthal, The Guardian, Sat. 8 December 2001

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/dec/08/weekend.hestonblumenthal

Tom took Georgina to (I suspect one of his favourite haunts) Brick Lane, where they spotted this (modified?) poster.