Desserts

Grilled Pineapple With Caramel Rum Sauce.

Chris De La Rosa

Storyteller · Award-Winning Author · TV Personality & Caribbean Culinary Curator.

April 10, 2013

8 comments

Without a doubt, this will become THE go-to dessert recipe in your home as it is in ours. With juicy pineapple dusted with cinnamon and grilled to release it’s natural sugars and juices, then simmered in a wonderful rum / brown sugar sauce.. yum! On it’s own or as a topping for a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream, this grilled pineapple will excite your taste buds! Can someone please tell me why our mom never made this for us, when we had pineapple growing in our back yard as a boy on the islands? Mom, we need to have a serious chat!

You’ll Need…

1 ripe pineapple
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup golden brown sugar
4 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Notes: You can top this with some toasted coconut flakes if you want to add some additional flavor and texture to this wonderful dessert. Additionally, you can add some raisins in the rum sauce if you’re like me and like rum and raisin ice cream.

I’m sure you can use pineapple in the can (tin) but I much refer to use a fresh pineapple, as long as it’s fully ripe. If your grocery store doesn’t have them fully peel and cored, here’s a quick video I did a while back showing how simple it is…

I must mention that if you’re serving this to minors or you don’t deal with alcohol, no worries. All the alcohol  burns off during the simmering process… but you do get a wonderful flavor from it.

Peel, core and trim the pineapple into spears, then sprinkle with the cinnamon and toss around. I used a stove top cast iron grill pan for grilling (you can use your out door grill, indoor grill or heat in a non-stick frying pan). Brush the grill pan with some vegetable oil or cooking spray, then (med/high heat) grill the pineapple spears for 3-4 minutes on each side. Set aside as we get the sauce ready. Try not to over-grill or you’ll find the pineapple will go soft and loose it’s shape.

In a fairly deep sauce pan on medium heat, add the brown sugar and butter and cook/stir until it’s melted and starts to go a darker color and develop big bubbles (frothy). Takes about 4-6 minutes. Remember to keep stirring.

Now turn off the heat and gently pour in the rum. Have a whisk handy as it will clump and you’ll think it’s ruined. Fear not, keep stirring. After 2 minutes of stirring, turn the heat back on (the alcohol should have dissipated by now)  and keep stirring until you have a semi-thick consistency. Have the heat on medium. Now add the grilled pineapple pieces to the pan and gently toss the sauce all over them. Cook for a couple minutes (until all the flavors blend and you have the consistency you’ll be happy with).

Your kitchen will have the wonderful scent of the brown sugar, grilled pineapple and the rum will just take this to another level.. wicked for days!  You can store in a sealed container in the fridge for a week or so, just microwave to heat every time you’re ready to use. I average sized pineapple will give you enough for 4 people and about 6-8 people as a topping for ice cream.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. Oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.