Friday 7 May 2010

Nutty Pineapple Dessert with Caramel Crunch

Hi all,

Hope all’s well out there. Here I am sharing with you a decadent dessert, that I recently discovered on Curryinkadai. You can read her story on the divine dessert as she calls it (and I believe it too) and find her version of the dessert there as well. I prepared this few weeks back when I had canned pineapple and condensed milk that has been sitting in my cupboard for some time. I was so in the mood of preparing some desserts and started blog hopping in search of recipes and this was the recipe that really caught my attention. I fell in love with it at first sight and I knew the flavours are gonna be amazing. Gave it ago and it was much more than I expected. I made few changes though because I am not a fan of frozen dessert much.

When I made it, my husband’s eye wide opened out of bliss and asked me what it was! Now, that was the first time that I saw my hubby so happy after tasting a dessert, as he is not a dessert person himself. After he had them, all he said was ‘ Post it in your blog, it will surely be a hit’! I also served my friends who loved it and made it at another place as well because she so loved it too. The dessert is so simple to make, so easy to put together and tastes real good. It is creamy in texture with lovely crunch from the nuts; and praline adds in a little more luxury and an appealing look. Praline is simply optional, but we loved it



If you all know, I have an inborn affection with the orange zest and I can’t tell you the amazing orangey flavour that the dish gets from the zest. It won’t be over powering, but gives it a mild zesty aroma which is so refreshing. I love it like crazy and you can see the use of it in many other dishes like Palmiers, Pineapple soufflé, mango pudding , orange and raisin cookies, orange cake etc. I never let my orange peel go to the bin without scraping the skinoff. I zest it and I freeze it for later use. For zesting the orange, wash the orange thoroughly before cutting it, use the small holes of your box grader that you grate your vegetables, and grate it like you grate any vegetable making sure not much of the bitter pith underneath the skin is being used. Pith is quite bitter and it can make the dish bitter too. Try it once in your dish and you too will get hooked.

Nutty Pineapple Dessert with Caramel Crunch
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 x 405g Condensed milk
1 x 432g can of Chopped Pineapple in its own juice  (check notes)
284 mls double cream / whipping cream
¼ cup whole almonds
¼ cup Cashewnuts
¼ cup Pistachios
½ Tbsp gelatine
4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) Fruit juice (You can use orange juice, pineapple juice, or the syrup from the can. I used tropical fruit juice, a shop-bought one)
1 orange’s zest (Outer thin skin)

For praline:
4 Tbsp caster sugar
1/3 cup of chopped nuts
1 tsp butter



Preparation:

1.In a clean bowl, whip cream using an electric blender until it forms stiff peaks.i.e., when you lift the whipping whisk, it should form a peak (Refer to my Queen of pudding recipe to see the peak there.)

2. Chop the nuts in a food processor or using knife or you can place the nuts in freezer bag or any polythene bag and whack it using the rolling pin until you get coarsely chopped nuts. Reserve 1/3 cup of chopped nuts aside for making praline.

3. Chop pineapple into very fine pieces. Don’t puree, you need little bits of pineapple in the dessert.

4. Take ¼ cup of fruit juice in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatine and mix it with spoon. Place this bowl over simmering water and stir well and cook till all gelatine granules dissolves and you get a clear liquid. DON’T BOIL the gelatine mixture as this will destroy the gelatine’s setting property. You can also heat the gelatine mixture in microwave, if you can do it carefully without boiling and stirring often to avoid lumps. Let it cool.

5. After everything is prepared, combine all the ingredients. i.e. pour the condensed milk over the whipped cream and mix well using a wire whisk. Add the chopped nuts and chopped pineapple and the melted gelatine mixture. Mix well using a metal spoon to combine all. Pour on individual serving bowls and chill for minimum of 4 hours or until set. Serve by sprinkling the praline over.

6. For the crunchy praline: Place a pan on moderate heat and add sugar and butter. You will be tempted to stir, but DON’T. Let the sugar cook until it turns in to amber colour, or honey colour. You have to be quick here because if the caramel goes really dark, it will get bitter. So make sure you don’t burn it. When you get the required colour, add nuts and mix well. Pour this on an oiled aluminium foil, spread it and let it dry. Once dry, break them into pieces, put it in a Ziploc bag, and whack it with a rolling pin until you get chunky bits of nuts as you see in the picture or even smaller.

Notes:
If you are using fresh pineapple, make sure you cook the pineapple with few tablespoons of sugar for 7-10 minutes or till the pineapple is lightly cooked. If you use the fresh pineapple in the dessert it will impart a bitter taste.

49 comments:

Indian Khana said...

This looks so yum...love the pic

PranisKitchen said...

really delicious..especially i like the picture..no doubt its a yummy treat for ur family...good one yarr

Suji said...

Looks beautiful..Love pineapple flavor so mch, so anything with pineapple is welcome here..Beautifully presented Shabs...

Love
Kairali sisters

Holly said...

This dessert looks so fresh and creamy:)

Lidia said...

I love pineapple and your dessert looks delicious!
Nice the preparation directly on glass!!

Namitha said...

Elegant dessert...I'm such a sucker for desserts :-)

Nitha said...

Wow.. looks great... yummy..

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Learnt a excellent new dessert.Thanks..

Saju Sharfu said...

ith sheriyellatto..mommy and daddy has big share and for the kiddo a small one...
ur pics look really amazing..its been ages since i made any dessert..now everyone has to be satisfied with store brought goodies..i am just tired to cook!!

Priya Suresh said...

Beautiful,cute and elegant dessert, looks super delicious..love those tempting praline..

Rachana said...

Whata gorgeous looking dessert!!!! Looks really delicious:)
Have a nice weekend!

M D said...

Hey Shabs, This pudding looks so so amazing. Beautiful and looks deliciously good! Beautiful clicks too!

M D said...

Beautiful and gorgeous looking dessert!

Anonymous said...

hey shabs, any possible substitution for pineapple? Cz my husband is allergic to it..Thanx
Zeb

Shabs.. said...

Thanks to all for sharing your thought...

@Zeb, I haven't tried with any other fruit so far, thank u for asking, i will try it with some thing else. I made a similar dessert with mango and it tasted real good. But i liked this one more. May be mangoes, orange flesh,papayas might work. Also you can try canned peaches. I cant promise you on that without trying it out...

Aruna Manikandan said...

dessert looks lovely dear...
Nice clicks :-)

Simplyfood said...

This dessert looks yummy and absolutely delicious.Beautifully presented.

Divya Kudua said...

OMG..I would love to dig into that bowl..pineapples and condensed milk is such a great combo and topped with praline..yummm!!

I'm a Home Chef !!! said...

simply...heaven!

Ms.Chitchat said...

All I can say is Awesome, awesome and awesome. The click is picture perfect and so is the recipe. Lovely presenation too. Bookmarked.

Parita said...

Love this dessert dear, very delightful!

Life is beautiful !!! said...

I loved reading your intro and I will definitely try this...looks very Yum Shab and thanks for the orange zest idea.....Thanks for letting me know how to avoid the bitterness. Loved your post and the pic...:)

Life is beautiful !!! said...

Happy mother's day!!!

Suhaina said...

looks so perfect. can make out from the ingredients that its drool worthy and tastes very yummy. nice clicks too.

Faiza Ali said...

WOW !! that looks awesome dear...I was waiting to see the recipe after i saw this pic on facebook :)
Again the same problem...I don't know where to get halal gelatine from..is there any substitute to it?

Deepa George said...

oh Shabeena! your food looks greater than 5 star hotel food. i want to have ur food one day ;)

KALVA said...

Like the crunch from pralines. I am glad you tweaked my recipe and delivered fabuluous desert!! I will definitely try this

Unknown said...

Thats such a lovely dessert..fabulous pictures too!!

Shah cooks said...

the praline makes all the difference.. i love anything with crunch in it. yummy dessert.

Unknown said...

Delectable dessert. love the topping.

Zainab said...

Hi Shabs, it's yummy... I think it's a good recipe. Can I use the canned fresh cream (al marai/nestle) instead of the whipping cream?

Meena said...

I love the collection of recipes n this is just tooo good...will be back soon to check out next post!

Barbara Bakes said...

This sounds cool and refreshing. The praline topping wouldn't be optional at my house, we'd love it.

Catherine said...

You have a wonderful site here!
This looks so wonderful and scrumptious! I'm eating it with my eyes right now!

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

hey bful dessert..treat tot he eyes and sweet tooth..lovely...nice presantation..

first time here...u have a lovely space...just started blogging..and love to add u in my list..
ur comments/suggestions r highly appreciated..happy blogging...following u>>>>>>



sanyuktagour(bayes)
http://creativesanyukta.blogspot.com/

Shabs.. said...

Thanks to all for stopping by and for ur comments and suggestion....

@Zainab, i havent used almarai cream for this and i dono how it is going to turn out. i would suggest u try it out with dreamwhip packet for this. It should taste delicious with that. Since almarai and nestle cream cant be whipped, the volume will be less and you might need to use 2 cans. and iam not sure how the texture will be too. I dont think it will taste bad though. You may give it a try if whipping cream is difficult to get. You can get Elmea double cream in lulu hypermarket and thats what i used.

Meena, thanks for ur lovely comment..Visit again..

@Barabara....yeah, i have started using praline in all my desserts now!Hubby is hooked to it...

@catherine, thax for stopping by dear and for your lovely compliment....

Hi sanyukta,
Thanks for stopping by. glad that u liked my blog and thx for following...will check out ur blog and definitely let u know wnhat i think.

Regards,
shab.

neelu said...

vow! definitely gonna try this soon :)

My Kitchen Antics said...

shabs...thanks so much for pointing out that i missed the gelatin bit..added it now :)

Dori said...

Rich and delicious! Wonderful :)

Neelu said...

i used your recipe for praline for a different dessert... i've a small suggestion - i found 1tsp butter too little for 4tbsp caster sugar to melt in... so i tried again and used around 1-2tbsp butter for 4tbsp caster sugar to melt in... thought this might help :)

Neelu

Shabs.. said...

Hi neelu,
Thanks alot for stopping by dear. ABout your suggestion on adding butter, normally i melt the sugar until caramel colour and add nuts and that too withiut adding any butter. Butter is just optional and not needed as well. Sugar doesnt need butter to melt in, it will get melted in dry heat from pan.
I have been making these praline for quite a whike now and there is a slight texture difference with and without adding butter. With butter its slightly chewier and without butter its more of very crunchy texture - Just for a little info. We like adding praline to any plain dessert.....and its always in stock here:)
Love,
shabs.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Hey shabs I dont know How i missed this post.. pine apple with condensed milk awesome combo.. And I love praline as well it gives wonderful crunchy and caramel taste to the desserts..mmmm yummy!!!

Reena said...

Shabs
Nice one..I have a query though..does it set well with 1/2 T gelatine ..

Reena

Shabs.. said...

@reena, it does set well with half a tablespoon of gelatine.

shabs.

Zainab said...

hey shabs...this is my first time here...i liked ur dessert...my hubby is a complete dessert fan..b it any kind!.....looking forward to see more frm u...
nice clicks..:)
regards
zainab

binds said...

Hi Shabs,
The dessert looks too good and irresistible. I am planning to prepare it today for my guests tomorrow. I have some free time now and thought of utilizing it.

Had a doubt....would it be ok to prepare a day earlier, or will it lose its firmness by tomorrow? Please reply.

Shabs.. said...

@Binds, You can make them today and serve tomorrow. It wont lose its firmness. Let me know how it turned out for you.

Regards,
shabs

aj99luvs2bake said...

What's the orange zest used for?

Shabs.. said...

For flavour and taste ofcourse. It pairs well with the pineapple and gives it a nice depth. You can omit it if you dont want to add.

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