a soft crust of almonds hides chunks of fresh pineapple baked in a real vanilla syrup

Baked pineapple with almonds
from The Guardian

With a little vanilla syrup, pineapple baked in this way is to serve on it’s own, either hot with ice-cream or at room temperature with a little sorbet. So to respect the delicacy I’ve added a soft almond pudding crust that bolsters the texture so it feels more filling when the weather is cold or if you’re just in need of a little comfort.

1 large ripe pineapple
about 125g caster sugar, more if needed
juice of half a lemon or lime
75ml brandy or orange juice
1 split vanilla pod
75g butter, softened
1 large egg
75g ground almonds
25g plain flour
flaked almonds

Trim the skin from the pineapple, quarter, cut out the core then slice into 1cm pieces. Place the pineapple in a baking dish big enough so the pieces half fill it, then sprinkle on 50g sugar, lemon juice, 50ml brandy and 75ml water. Submerse the vanilla pod in the dish, cover with foil and bake at 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas 4 until hot and tender. Make the frangipane crust by beating the butter and 75g sugar until smooth, then beat in the egg, almonds, flour and 25ml brandy. Just before serving spoon the mixture over the pineapple, sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake at 200°C/fan 180°C/390°F/gas 6 until brown on top.

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