89 votesIf you can’t go on a dream trip to a tropical island, bring tropical paradise to your home by making this lusciously refreshing crispy pineapple with coconut ice cream dessert. The flavors of the Caribbean and the pacific islands are condensed in this wonderful dish that perfectly marries the two most popular tropical fruits.
While pineapple and coconuts are healthy and nutritious, this dessert is not exactly for those watching their weight or on a diet. The coconut ice cream is made with a luxurious and luscious base of English cream, which is a type of light custard made with milk, egg yolks, and sugar. After the base is completed, coconut milk, coconut cream, and grated coconut are added to the mix and placed in an ice cream maker. While it is necessary to use an ice cream machine to get a smooth and creamy final product, you can still make ice cream manually but you will get a rougher and more rustic result. If you’re going to make ice cream without an ice cream maker, you need to churn the mixture every thirty minutes after it has frozen, repeating the process at least three times. Use an electric mixer to get a relatively smooth consistency.
The best pineapples for use in this recipe are sweet and ripe pineapples, uniformly golden in color and small in size but plump in shape. Ripe and sweet pineapple exudes a wonderful sweet aroma. To prepare a pineapple, cut off the top and the base using a sharp knife. Let the fruit stand upright on the cutting board and slice off the skin following the contour of the flesh, in long and vertical strips. Use a paring knife to remove the eyes of the pineapple making small v-shaped grooves and working diagonally down all the way around the pineapple. Slice it in half then quarters and into bite-sized pieces. Remove ad discard the hard core.
Create an English cream by heating milk and whipping egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Gently add the yolk-sugar mixture to the milk, stirring constantly. Heat over low fire to obtain custard texture. At the end of the cooking, remove the pot from the stove and add coconut milk, coconut cream, and some grated coconut. Mix well and place in the ice cream machine.
Finely slice the pineapple and collect the pineapple juice. Sprinkle sugar icing on a plate and place the pineapple on top of it. Sprinkle more of the sugar icing on top, then place the plate in the oven so it lightly caramelizes. Heat grated coconut in the oven.
Cut a small round stencil from a cardboard box. Lightly sprinkle a plate with sugar icing, place the stencil on the plate, and spread a little bit of the creme patissiere over the plate and the stencil. Bake for about 5 minutes to get a crispy round disc.
On a serving dish, place 3 scoops of the coconut ice cream. Sprinkle the scoops with some baked coconut. Decorate the dish with the crispy round biscuit and caramelized pineapples.
Pour some of the pineapple sauce on each side. Add a tiny bit of the raspberry sauce to decorate the dish.
