Caramelized Pineapple

Caramelized pineapple is a simple, light dessert that’s perfect for a weeknight treat or a more involved dinner party affair. If you’re a fan of bananas foster, you’ll fall hard and fast for this easy recipe. It’s made by searing pineapple wedges in a skillet and using those juices to make a quick stovetop caramel sauce. 

Cooking fruit, whether you’re grilling, roasting, or caramelizing like this recipe, is a great way to bring out the concentrated sweetness of a fruit. This is often done with peaches and other stone fruit. When those aren’t in season, we turn to pineapple, which is always in available. Even if you come home from the store with a less-than-perfect fruit, this recipe make it taste its best.

How to Prep the Pineapple

Breaking down the pineapple for this recipe couldn’t be simpler. Start with a secured cutting board and a sharp chef’s knife. 

1. Peel: To peel a pineapple, start by slicing off the top and bottom of the fruit with your knife so you have two flat surfaces. Stand the pineapple up on the cutting board and, using the blade of your knife, carve off the skin, removing any green bits and scaly bumps. You might have to go over certain parts of the fruit more than once to make sure all of the skin has been shaved off. 
2. Core: If you have a pineapple corer, this is when you’ll want to use it. Place the flat bottom of the pineapple on the cutting board and firmly press the corer down through the center of the fruit. Lift it back up and the core will pop out. If you don’t have a pineapple corer, don’t worry. It’s just as easy to core the fruit with a knife–you’ll do this after step 3. 
3. Slice: Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise, then cut each half into fourths lengthwise again to create eight long wedges. 
4. Trim the core (optional): At this point, if you didn’t use a pineapple corer, grab a paring knife. Place each wedge of pineapple flat on the cutting board and use the paring knife to shave away the length of the inner core.

Choosing the Best Pineapple

The color, aroma, weight, and leaf structure are some of the most important things to look for when purchasing a pineapple at the grocery store. Though it makes any pineapple taste good, the more perfectly ripe the fruit, the better this dessert will turn out.

• Color: Pineapples will continue to ripen once they’ve been picked and harvested, so they will go from a lush green to golden yellow over time. Opt for one that is more golden. 
• Aroma: You can smell a good pineapple from a mile away. It should smell sweet and syrupy. 
• Weight: A ripe pineapple should feel heavy for its size. That means the juices are nicely concentrated. If the fruit feels light, that could mean it’s not very juicy. 
• Leaves: You can also test for ripeness by pulling out one of the spiky leaves from the top of the fruit. If it comes loose easily, that’s a good sign the pineapple is ready to eat.

5 Ways to Serve Caramelized Pineapple

• Vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt: This recipe calls for frozen yogurt as a serving suggestion—it’s creamy and delicious but not too heavy. A scoop (or two) or your favorite vanilla ice cream is delicious too. We love scooping up the ice cream and caramel sauce in the same spoonful. 
• More caramel sauce: You make a quick skillet caramel sauce for this recipe, but why not add even more? No one will say no to another drizzle. You can double the recipe here or make a separate batch to use for other desserts like ice cream sundaes and banana splits. 
• Dusted with spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom can all be used sparingly as a final touch. You could even stir those spices into the caramel or rub them over the pineapple before cooking. 
• Drizzled with lime juice: This dessert is quite sweet, so a squeeze of fresh lime juice helps balance out the flavors. 
• Topped with fudge sauce: Use your favorite store-bought or homemade chocolate fudge sauce to drizzle over the top. We love how it mingles with the buttery caramel.