Rum Babas With Poached Pineapple Vanilla Ice Cream Food

RUM BABAS WITH POACHED PINEAPPLE & VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• For the babas, gently heat the milk, then allow to cool slightly so it's tepid. Add 1 tsp sugar to the yeast, then pour in the milk and allow to stand for a few mins until the mixture is foamy. Combine the flour, remaining sugar and ½ tsp salt in a bowl, then pour in the yeast mixture, eggs and the melted butter and mix until smooth and shiny. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hr.
• Butter and flour 6 dariole moulds or small metal pudding moulds. Knock back the dough; then, using your fingers, form 6 little balls and place 1 ball into each mould. Leave to prove again until the dough starts to rise over the top of the moulds, about 30-40 mins. Meanwhile, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Space the moulds out on a baking tray, then cook for 15 mins. Leave to cool for a few mins, then carefully loosen the babas away from the sides with a small sharp knife. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
• For the poached pineapple, put the star anise, bay leaves, coriander seeds and sugar into a large pan with 1 litre of water, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, add the pineapple and cook for 20 mins. Leave to cool for 5 mins, then take out the pineapple, drain and set aside. Add the rum to the syrup and allow to cool. Can be made the day ahead up to this point.
• To make the vanilla cream, whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla seeds to soft peaks. Set aside, then chill until ready to use.
• Halve the babas and drench in the rum syrup until soaked through. Serve with the pineapple chopped into chunks, plus a dollop of cream extra syrup for everyone to drizzle over. If you like, you can heat the 50g butter in a frying pan until browned, cook the pineapple rings on both sides until golden, then grind over black pepper before serving as above.

GRILLED PINEAPPLE WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM AND RUM SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut the top and bottom off of the pineapple, peel and cut it crosswise into 8 rings, about 1/2-inch each. Use a spoon or apple corer to carve out the center core of each ring.
• Spray a large grill pan with cooking spray and heat over a medium flame. Grill the pineapple, in 2 or 3 batches, for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until it is nicely brown and grill marks have appeared. (You can also grill this on an outdoor grill sprayed with cooking spray before being heated.)
• While the last batch of pineapple cooks, heat the butter, sugar and rum in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat.
• Place a pineapple ring on each plate, scoop 1/4 cup of ice cream into the center of the ring, and drizzle about 2 teaspoons of sauce on top.

VANILLA-POACHED PINEAPPLE

Steps:

• Peel pineapple, then quarter lengthwise. Cut out core, then cut each quarter lengthwise into 4 pieces (for a total of 16).
• Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a 12-inch heavy skillet with tip of a paring knife, then add pod, wine, Grand Marnier, brown sugar, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves, and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
• Add pineapple to wine mixture and return to a boil. Remove from heat. Cool pineapple in liquid, about 1 hour. Transfer pineapple with a slotted spoon to a 4-sided sheet pan, then boil liquid until reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 35 minutes.
• Preheat broiler.
• Sprinkle pineapple with granulated sugar, then broil 3 to 4 inches from heat until slightly caramelized and lightly charred in spots, 10 to 15 minutes (watch carefully and remove any pineapple that colors more quickly). Serve drizzled with syrup.

PINEAPPLE-RUM ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Combine cream and milk in heavy large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat. Mix in 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup rum. Whisk yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in large bowl until beginning to thicken. Whisk in pineapple juice, then hot cream mixture. Return to saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Strain mixture into large bowl. Chill until cold, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, mix 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup rum and chopped pineapple in medium bowl and chopped pineapple in medium bowl. Let stand 1 hour. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain pineapple. Cool.
• Process custard in ice cream maker until beginning to thicken. Add pineapple; process until semi-firm. Transfer to container; cover and freeze until firm, about 3 hours.