Happy Independence Day! Since it’s Thursday, do you take Friday off and make it an extra long holiday? How do you celebrate? Last year we were in Wisconsin at our friend’s lake house (Paul & Ts) and at around 9pm we boated out to the middle of the lake and watched the most amazing fireworks–it was awesome!
Speaking of awesome, if you want your guests to see fireworks in their heads, THIS is the dessert to serve. It’s a perfect summer dessert combining popular tropical flavours: pineapple, rum and coconut. You can’t go wrong, and it’s very impressive making it the perfect dessert to serve on such an important holiday.
The first time I saw this recipe was at Jed, the Sports Glutton’s blog and I knew I would make it, I just didn’t realize how soon! We were entertaining my uni BFF and her hubby a while back and I needed a gluten free desert (she is gluten intolerant) and I wanted something that wasn’t too bad for you…so I chose fruit but even better it was sweet, caramelized Pineapple. I loved the grilled pineapple salsa we made for the grilled shrimp so I knew this dessert would be a hit; it turned out so well, JT suggested that I make it for our next progressive dinner, so I did! What was super cool about the latest progressive dinner was that each course had to be made on the BBQ! This is the perfect summertime dessert, not having to heat the house up by turning on the oven — there are better ways to heat things up ;)!
So, I present to you, an inspired version of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Deconstructed Piña Colada: Grilled Buttered Rum Pineapple with Grilled Coconut Pound Cake
Serves 8 (1 cm or 1/2″ slices of cake, with lots left over)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- the rind of one lemon
I
- 1 /4 cup of unsalted butter
- 1/8 cup dark rum
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 pineapples, peeled and cored and cut into 8 spears each
- 24 smallish strawberries
- 1 Coconut pound cake (recipe can be found here).
- pineapple sage finely julienned (or mint)
Directions:
- Combine the Greek yogurt, vanilla, powdered sugar and lemon rind and stir well. Refrigerate.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then add the rum, brown sugar and salt and give it a good boil (to burn off the alcohol).
- Using the buttered rum sauce, baste the pineapple spears and grill until you have achieved grill marks, you can baste throughout the grilling process but make sure you reserve some sauce for drizzling. Keep the grilled pineapple spears warm.
- Slice the coconut pound cake into 1-2 cm (1/2″-3/4″) slices, brush lightly with the buttered rum sauce and grill until you have achieved grill marks.
Assembly:
- Place the slice of grilled coconut pound cake on the plate, arrange the spears so that they overlap the pound cake and each other.
- Add three washed strawberries clustered together.
- Add a dollop of the Greek Yogurt sauce and finally drizzle with the remaining buttered rum.
- Garnish with the pineapple sage julienne. Serve immediately.
*Clip art from Microsoft Clip Art.
[…] celebrated our fourth Progressive dinner a few weeks ago with our lovely neighbours. During the last dinner the boys dreamed up our next theme: Beer! I was lucky enough to be next up for the main course so […]
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We definitely made it a long weekend, but after all the parties, I need another one! What a great dessert idea Eva! My dad would absolutely flip for this! He eats grilled pineapple like candy.
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Lucky you! Sometimes our Canada Day falls on a Wednesday and most companies don’t make it into a long weekend so you have to take vacation to get one! A holiday in the middle of the week is very weird. I hope your dad enjoys the dessert, you can omit the rum for the kids, but it’s definitely a crowd pleaser for the adults.
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Stunning dessert!
In summer, I like to do a grill pineapple brown sugar and butter. Grilled til caramalised and the sugar is just starting to burn. Serve with ice cream. It’s an easy crowd pleaser. I took that to more than one BBQ. Just cut up your pineapple and put into a container, add melted butter and brown sugar and away and take that and a box of ice cream to your BBQ. The rest can be done when you get there.
I will add rum to this next time!
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Thank you kindly Genie, it sure was a lovely way to end the progressive dinner, and such fun to have baked a cake on the Barbie! Ice cream would have been a fantastic addition to this plate but we tend to eat so much during these events that I felt a slightly lighter version would be appropriate, plus two of the ladies were doing marathons the next day! It’s a great idea to take this dessert on a BBQ picnic, I’ll have to keep it in mind. The rum just brings it to the next level. 😉
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Aaaah, it’s all revealed… so that’s why you abstained with the blow-torch, hehe! :D. Very nice Eva – coconut and pineapple are two incredible flavours and they’re just made for each other I find so I bet this treat went down very well.
I remember your post from last year… gosh, I can’t believe it’s been a year already?!
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Hi Charles, yes, there was method in my madness! Time does fly incredibly quickly and I’m afraid for you it will fly even faster with William around to remind you how quickly he is growing up. Apparently, the older you get the faster time flies…not looking forward to that, particularly when I would want it to slow down to enjoy every minute.
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Never serve griled pineapple without seafood before,
especially as a dessert, preety good invention for my asian taste buds…
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Thanks Dedy, it was very delicious.
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Eva, I’m chuckling because I just bought some pineapple and coconut to make something with! How is it that we’re so similar although we’re on opposite sides of the earth with opposite seasons? I love it!
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Hi Lorraine, it’s quite coincidental indeed. The coconut pound cake freezes very well and would go with any grilled fruit, but the pineapple is very good with it
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I’m going to reconstruct this in my mouth. Hmm, I should just say it looks great!
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Still tasty, thanks Greg.
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What a delightful and elegant looking dessert Eva. It’s funny, I rarely drink rum but I adore its taste in dessert. It just has an unmistakable quality to it that works so well with fruit and a little goes a long way. Bet your BFF was thrilled with this one (even without the cake!). I’ve grilled peaches/nectarines before in balsamic but I must try this little delight. I might serve it with some fresh cream to absorb the full capacity of the juices ;-).
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Thanks Kelly, great idea with the balsamic, I will have to try that next time.
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That’s a beautiful looking dessert. I love coconut and pineapple. And I think rum soaked pineapple grilled would be delicious. You plated this dessert so beautifully xx
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Looks beautiful even without the coconut cake to go with it.
Have you ever tried those flourless/gluten free roulades? I’ve only seen a chocolate version but I wonder if you could do a sheet cake version and use that with some toasted coconut.
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Thank you Maria, no I’ve never had the GF roulade version, I’ll have to check it out. Great idea too.
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That is a brilliant idea my friend 😀
This deconstructed pina colada looks so beautiful and delicious!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thanks CCU, it was quite delicious.
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Beautiful and elegant, as usually! I love this dessert maybe even more without the cake, given the summer heat (though I love pound cakes!). Can you believe that me, the light dessert freak, has never grilled any fruit??? I don’t have a proper grill, but I suppose I could do it on my grill pan too. Thank you for the inspiration. I need more light sweet treats ideas!
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Thank you so much for your incredibly flattering words Sissi, you are right, the dessert is wonderful even without the cake. I’m sure you can grill the fruit on your grill pan, it would be very successful, I have done it myself when I am too lazy or it’s raining outside!
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So this is what the pound cake was for…..grilled cake, can’t get over it. The moment you say ‘pineapple’, any dessert gets elevated. With rum sauce and coconut grilled cake…..divine! Happy 4th!
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Hi Minnie, it was very successful, but the dessert is wonderful even without the pound cake, particularly if you wish to keep it a lighter fare.
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Your dessert looks amazing without the pound cake… and sounds amazing served with it. I agree with John, your recipe sounds like a winner served either way!!! One of my goals for this summer is to try grilled fruit. I might have to try out this recipe next time I visit dad and borrow the bbq.
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Grilled fruit is exceptional Amber I highly encourage you to try it. Peaches and pears are wonderful, anything that has a relatively high sugar content will work well. You can even try it as an appetizer, grilled pears with gorgonzola or even sharp cheddar or brie, drizzled with a little EVOO and a balsamic reduction would be perfect.
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Thanks for the tips Eva! All of these options sound wonderful!
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With or without the coconut pound cake, this sounds like a real winner of a dessert and would have been perfect for your progressive dinner’s dessert. Grilled pineapple is such a treat on its own but a healthy drizzle of that rum sauce would definitely make this dessert memorable. Like you, I want to make this!
(BTW, the link for the coconut pound cake recipe isn’t working.)
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Thanks John, I had forgotten to do the link for the recipe, nice of you to draw it to my attention. So often I re read old posts and find glaring errors and wish I could ‘command Z’ and do them over again.
You’re right of course, this is a summertime winner of a dessert, and the rum sauce just makes it a bit more special, quite tasty indeed.
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This sounds wonderful, Eva. I’m going to a barbecue this afternoon and I am very tempted to bring pineapple to grill and rum sauce.
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It’s so easy and such a show stealer, I would definitely encourage you to do so, everyone loved it.
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That dessert is a million dollar winner. Simple, good quality ingredients and beautiful presentation.
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Thanks Maureen it sure worked out very well indeed AND best of all, I met the BBQ criteria for the dinner party.
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That sounds like a great dessert with pound cake.
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Thanks Angie, made somewhat healthier than the typical pound cake.
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Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my! Yum.
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