Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream is a great summer treat. The tropical flavour of pineapple has been intensified by cooking and paired with a sprinkle of sweet, mellow spices to bolster the flavour further. It’s a less common flavour I urge you not to miss out on.
I’ve spent March and April itching to get my ice cream maker out, but the never-ending winter was holding me back. Thankfully, spring finally arrived a few weeks ago (just in time for summer) and I wasted no time getting to work on the ice cream flavours that had been dominating my mind for several months. One recipe was a total fail, but the other one I’m presenting here today, in all its creamy glory.
Spiced & Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream may not trip off the tongue lightly when spoken out loud, but it’s such a wonderful flavour profile to add to ice cream that I’m willing to overlook that minor issue. I’ve made this ice cream several times now, varying the amount of fruit and spices added to the ice cream base and I’m hitting you with my favourite version today.
I adore ice cream. In truth, I can eat it all year long, regardless of the weather. But I’m a tricky customer. My ice cream has to be luxuriously creamy, not too soft and richly flavoured. Well guess what? This Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream ticks all of those boxes and more besides. It is:
- smooth and creamy
- fruity and refreshing
- mellow and subtly spiced
It’s also not a flavour you’ll commonly find in the supermarket freezer department, so you can wow guests with a flavour they are unlikely to have come across before.
First time around I reserved a small amount of the roasted pineapple, chopped it small and folded it through the churned mixture, along with a handful of chopped hazelnuts. But as I’ve just said, smooth and creamy is generally the way I take my ice cream, so I ended up leaving them both out in the final rendition. Hazelnuts and pineapple are great together though, so I’d recommend adding the nuts if you are not as picky as me about texture.
I also added a smidge too much spice first time around and under churned the mixture resulting in a grainy texture. It was close to a mini disaster, but then I threw it all into my blender with a splash of milk to make some thick and creamy Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream milkshakes. Oh sweet, ice cold joy. A splash of rum would have been a pleasing addition too, but for once I showed restraint.
Psst…. If you’re on the look out for more smooth and creamy ice cream have you seen these:
- Salted Honey Ice Cream – my absolute, best ever, favourite, more than favourite, ice cream flavour
- Salted Caramel Ice Cream – worthy runner up to the above
lengthytitle - Bounty Ice Cream (Coconut and Chocolate) – so utterly delicious
📖 Recipe
Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Roasted Pineapple
- 300 g/ 10 ½ oz Fresh Pineapple (skin and hard core removed)
- 2 tablespoon Maple syrup
- 1 ½ tablespoon Hot water
- ¾ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
- Pinch Ground allspice
For the Ice Cream Base
- 4 Egg yolks (large, free range)
- 70 g/ ⅓ cup/ 2 ½ oz Golden caster sugar
- 1 Vanilla Pod
- 200 ml/ ¾ cup + 2 tbsp Whole (full fat) milk
- 200 ml/ ¾ cup + 2 tbsp Double (heavy) cream
Instructions
For the Roasted Pineapple
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ GM4 and line a roasting tin with baking parchment
- Slice the pineapple into rings approx 1cm thick and lay on the parchment
- In a small jug mix the maple syrup, spices and hot water and pour over the pineapple
- Toss the ingredients together with a metal spoon, cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes, turning the pineapple in the juices half way through the cooking time
- When cooked, scrape the fruit and all of the juices into a wide jug and blitz with a stick blender until completely broken down – it should resemble apple puree
- Cover and refrigerate
Make the Ice Cream Base
- Put the milk into a medium sized pan (heavy based) over a medium heat. Split the vanilla pod and drop into the pan. Heat until warm
- Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl for 2-3 minutes until thicker and paler
- Pour the warm milk onto the yolks, whisking continuously
- Pour the custard mix back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon
- Take off the heat. Remove the vanilla pod. Scrape out the seeds and add back into the custard. Pour the maple syrup in and stir to combine
- Pour the custard into a bowl or jug, cover with clingfilm (to stop a skin forming) and cool. Once cold, transfer to the fridge to chill overnight (or for at least 4 hours)
- When ready to churn remove the clingfilm from the custard, pour in the cream and the pineapple puree and stir until thoroughly combined
Making the ice cream using an ice cream maker
- Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions
- Serve immediately or transfer the ice cream into a freezer-proof container, cover the surface directly with greaseproof paper or foil and store in the freezer.
Making the ice cream by hand
- Pour the ice cream into a suitable freezer-proof bowl, cover and put it in the freezer for 1-1 ½ hours. The sides should be beginning to freeze, but the centre will be soft and slushy
- Remove from the freezer and, working quickly, use electric beaters to beat the ice cream until the ice crystals are uniform. Cover and place back in the freezer
- Repeat this process 4-8 more times at 1 hour intervals – the better the texture will be the more the process is repeated
- Cover the ice cream with greaseproof paper or foil and freeze for a further 3 hours or overnight
- Remove from the freezer 10-15 minutes prior to serving to allow it to soften slightly
Jack Smith
This looks fabulous ! Going to try it tomorrow, I think the kids will love it ! Thank you
Jane Saunders
Oh excellent. I hope you enjoy it.
Marcellina
Yum! I love pineapple but I have never even thought of making pineapple icecream. What a great idea!
Jane Saunders
Thankyou Marcellina. I’m not often into fruity ice creams, but for pineapple, I make an exception.
Jenn
SO glad it’s finally ice cream weather! This pineapple ice cream look totally tasty – can’t wait to try it!!!
Jane Saunders
Thanks Jenn – enjoy.
Liz
I’m such a pineapple fan, but I’ve never made pineapple ice cream! This recipe looks perfect and your photography is gorgeous!!
Jane Saunders
Thankyou so much Liz. Normally I end up shooting ice cream on really hot days and then run around like a maniac trying to get all my pics before it melts.