in the kitchen x golden pineapple

Summer is flying by, it's already August! Taking advantage of this beautiful warm weather in NYC (minus that one week of humidity and rain), we are running a pina colada inspired special. This golden pineapple is a coconut semifreddo with a pineapple center. The center consists of fresh, diced pineapple cooked in brown sugar, rum, vanilla, orange, lemon, and a hint of cinnamon. The bottom is a soft and chewy coconut cake. The outside is sprayed with a light coating of Orelys chocolate and cocoa butter to create a light and thin shell. Orelys is part of Valrhona's newest line of blond chocolate and made with muscovado sugar (yes to unrefined sugar!) and it's notes of molasses go great with the coconut and pineapple. The crown of this pineapple is made with sliced, candied, and dehydrated pineapple. It's a refreshing and satisfying ending to a summer meal.

in the kitchen x mango, pineapple, & chocolate

It's hot hot hot outside! Hot and humid weather makes me crave something tropical to survive this heat. This dessert is a mango pineapple chocolate milk chocolate mousse cake with a caramel glaze, mango sauce, dehydrated pineapple chip, and cocoa cake crumble. It's a pretty straightforward dessert considering I had to plate a LOT of these at one time. I love combining tropical fruits with milk chocolate, just because the acidity enhances all the caramel and sweet, floral notes of the chocolate, namely Valrhona Caramelia 36% chocolate. I love caramel paired with chocolate so I couldn't resist adding it as the glaze for the cake. For texture, I used a cocoa cake crumble (an irresistible snack on its own..) and a candied dehydrated pineapple chip.

in the kichen x caramelized pineapple

This dessert came about as a last minute request for pineapple. Super simple, and super refreshing. I marinated the pineapple in a syrup of orange juice, honey, cardamom, ginger, and brown sugar. Once it was in the oven, I continued glazing it with the syrup until it was cooked. I love seeing the sugars caramelize, and the bits of pineapple that char slightly. Its paired with oats, and coconut sorbet topped with chopped cocoa nibs. It's light and satisfying. Sometimes, when I overthink a dessert, or come up with something with 43859340 components on a plate, I go back to the simplest of desserts, and it reminds me that delicious is never complicated.