In the winter it's fun to play around with fruit and serve it cooked. Pineapples are beautiful roasted so we decided to create a recipe and give it our own christmassy twist with this caramelised spiced syrup.
Recipe
Serves 2 people
Ingredients
1 ripe pineapple
150g soft brown/golden caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon all spice (or 4 spices - cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger)
a good sprinkle of dried chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence / extract
lemon juice
sea salt
a knob of butter
First off, heat the oven to 180C or 160C fan.
Time to prep the pineapple. Cut the skin off the pineapple, making sure you remove the spikey bits and the top and bottom. Keep the flesh of the pineapple whole for roasting.
Start making your caramel by putting the sugar in a saucepan with a splash of water and put on a low-medium heat.
When the caramel starts to bubble, begin to swirl the saucepan around and keep simmering for a few minutes until the caramel becomes golden brown. It should be clear and translucent and the caramel colour should start to darken. If you have a thermometer, the temperature of the caramel should reach 120C.
Then add the spice, chilli flakes, vanilla essence, splash of lemon juice, a good pinch of salt and a knob of butter and whisk until all the ingredients are incorporated into the caramel.
Place the pineapple on a lined baking tray and cover it in the caramel, using a spoon to baste it so all sides are covered in the liquid.
Place in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes, taking it out every 15 minutes to baste with the caramel again. When the juices darken and the flesh of the pineapple has turned golden and caramelised, it is ready.
Allow the pineapple to cool for a couple of minutes then slice into rings and serve drizzled with the caramel syrup. If you have a sweet tooth, dig out the salted caramel ice cream. We like Jude's salted caramel ice cream - even their 'light' one is delicious.
Enjoy and let us know how you get on with the recipe!
