Strawberry Hill Pineapple with Rum Butter Glaze
I made this on one of the balconies of the famous ‘Strawberry Hill Hotel’ overlooking the spectacular Blue Montains of Jamaica. Like the country, this dessert made me feel warm, saucy and sexy. Perhaps it will have the same effect on you?! You will need a clean rack on which to barbecue this dessert so either try to keep a small area clean while you are cooking the meats, or very carefully lift off the rack, leave it to cool and then give it a quick scrub before using.
Serves 4–6
1 large fresh pineapple
caster or icing sugar for sprinkling
75 g (3 oz) unsalted butter
75 g (3 oz) demerara sugar
juice of ½ lime
1 vanilla pod
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 quantity Denzil’s Simple Coconut Ice Cream (see here) to serve
Slice the top and the bottom off the pineapple, sit it upright on a board and cut it in to quarters. Remove the core from each quarter and then slice it across into 2.5 cm (1 in) thick triangular slices.
Sprinkle both sides of each piece of pineapple with a little of the caster or icing sugar and barbecue over medium-hot coals for 5–6 minutes until lightly caramelized.
Meanwhile melt the butter in a small pan and add the demerara sugar and lime juice.
Split the vanilla pod open with the tip of a knife and scrape out the seeds into the pan (the rest of the vanilla pod can be saved for another recipe). Add the rum, set it alight and place it to the side of the barbecue rack. Stir until it has melted and bubbled to form a smooth glaze.
As soon as the pineapple is cooked, remove it from the barbecue on to a plate, spoon over the rum butter glaze and serve at once with a scoop of Denzil’s Simple Coconut Ice Cream (see here).
VARIATION
You can also make this dessert using bananas. Barbecue the unpeeled bananas over medium-hot coals for about 10–15 minutes (depending on how ripe they are), turning them carefully every now and then, until they are virtually black all over and tender. Lift them on to a plate and make a slit in the skin of each one. Pull back the skin slightly, spoon in some of the rum butter glaze and serve straight away, sprinkled with a little ground cinnamon if you wish.