Grilled Pineapple Pound Cake with Fresh Pineapple and Dark Rum Coconut Caramel
This dessert is perfect for your summer BBQ. You can place the pound cake right on the warm grill after dinner and everything can be made in advance. Pineapple pound cake is grilled then, topped with fresh pineapple, whipped coconut cream, and coconut rum caramel. This dessert brings all the flavors of pineapple upside down cake together even the maraschino cherry for garnish.
“all the flavors of pineapple upside down cake together even the maraschino cherry for garnish”
Cold oven means no preheating the oven. The batter and the oven both start cold and heat up at the same time. This gentle baking allows for a great texture and crust on your pound cake. I have found that this baking method helps insure a perfect bake. One common problems that happen in pound cakes is sad streaks. The gummy "sad streaks" are caused by over developed gluten that allows for a quick rise but then collapses when removed from the oven. To prevent the gluten from over developing only gently mix after the flour is added. The cold oven method also seems to cut down on this problem.
Whipping coconut cream is a great non dairy alternative to whipped cream but you could use either with is dessert. Both are delicious! Make sure to use full fat coconut milk and let is chill at least overnight before whipping. You don’t achieve as stiff of a whipped cream as you do using heavy cream but it has a wonderful coconut flavor that is a perfect pair to the pineapple. Some store also carry cans of coconut cream. With this you wouldn’t need to separate it from the milk and 1 can would equal 2 cans of coconut milk so you would need to double the sugar and vanilla.
Grilled Pineapple Pound Cake with Fresh Pineapple and Dark Rum Coconut Caramel
serves 6 to 8 with extra pound cake for snacking ;)
Cold Oven Lemon Pound Cake
1/2 pound unsalted butter
1/2 pound crisco
2 cups sugar
5 eggs (cold)
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup whole milk (cold)
1 cup crushed pineapple (fresh or canned)
melted butter for grilling
Coconut Rum Caramel
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon dark rum (optional)
1/4 cup cream of coconut (I used Coco Lopez)
Whipped Coconut Cream
1 can full fat coconut milk (refrigerated over night)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
* fresh pineapple slices, toasted coconut and maraschino cherries for garnish
Pound Cake:
** Don't preheat the oven ;)
Butter and flour a tube pan and set aside.
In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Combine butter, crisco, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until fully combined, light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Then, continue to beat until the mixture has lightened and increased in volume. (at least one full minute) Add in flour and salt mixture and mix until just combined. Add in milk, vanilla and pineapple.
Add to the prepared pan and place in a cold oven. Set the oven to 325 degrees F and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Let the cake cool completely before slicing.
Coconut Rum Caramel:
In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring the sugar, water, and corn syrup to a boil. Continue to boil until the sugar reaches a nice caramel color. I like to bring my caramel to a dark amber color almost to the brink of burning. It takes some practice to find the perfect color but is the key to a great flavorful caramel. Immediately remove the sugar from the heat when it reaches that color. Then, add in the salt, rum, and cream of coconut. This will cause the caramel to vigorously boil so be aware. Stir the caramel until the cream is incorporated
Whipped Coconut Cream:
Refrigerate your can of coconut milk until fully chilled at least overnight. Then open the can a remove the solid cream that has harden at the top. Stop once you reach the water and discard (or save to add to smoothies etc.)
Add the solid cream, vanilla and sugar to a large mixing bowl and whipped with an electric mixer on high until it is light and fluffy.
Assembly:
After your pound cake had completely cool cut into slices. Brush with melted butter. Then, using a grill, grill pan or panini press, grill pound cake until warm and charred. It also help the cake stay together if you chill the cake before grilling.
Top with fresh pineapple slices drizzle with caramel and top with chilled whipped coconut cream. Sprinkle with toasted flaked coconut.
