I was craving sweet pineapple the other day, so I hopped on my beach cruiser and rode to my local market to grab one. Luckily, the market was having a serious sale on fresh pineapples – one large pineapple set me back a mere $2.00. (That’s even cheaper than a tin of canned pineapples.)
I love eating fresh pineapple, but for dessert purposes, I caramelize them in a mixture of salted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. It takes less than 10 minutes to cook the pineapple, though the length of cooking will ultimately depend on how ripe the pineapple is.
This recipe is a quick and easy way to transform pineapple into something a bit fancier. Serve the warm slices of pineapple and the caramel sauce with some vanilla ice cream, and you’ve got yourself a delicious, decadent dessert. They’re also great to use in pineapple upside-down cake, pineapples Foster, or spooned over cheesecake. At Sugar Blossom Bake Shop, we used this recipe to caramelize baby pineapples for topping our Piña Colada Cupcakes.
If you’d like more delicious recipes like this, including cupcake recipes from Sugar Blossom, check out my cookbook, Beach House Baking, on Amazon. 🙂
Caramelized Pineapples
Ingredients
- 1 large pineapple ripe
- ¼ cup butter salted
- ½ cup brown sugar light
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Use a serrated knife to cut away the pineapple skin. Slice the pineapple into ½-inch-thick rings (I usually get 8 rings.) Use a round cutter to remove the core from each ring.
- Melt salted butter in a large rimmed pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla until smooth. Bring mixture to a simmer. Add a single layer of 4 pineapple rings and cook for 4 minutes at a low boil. Flip rings over and continue cooking until tender, about 4 minutes more. Use a slotted spatula to transfer caramelized pineapples to a rimmed serving dish. Cook remaining pineapple rings.
- Pour caramel sauce remaining in the pan over the pineapple rings to serve. Leftovers can be stored covered in the refrigerator.