Roasted rum and pecan pineapple

Sweet, sticky, fruity, boozy and crunchy - this vegan and gluten-free dessert recipe has it all. Roasting the pineapple with a spiced rum caramel gives a melt-in-the-mouth texture, perfect for topping with crunchy, caramelised pecan nuts to finish.

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Serves 4-6

Vegetarian

Vegan

Gluten-free

Dairy-free

Ingredients

100g pecans
1 ripe pineapple
300g soft light brown sugar
200ml water
50ml rum
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 tsp sea salt

Cooking instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C/gas 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Spread the pecans out on the tray and roast for 5-6 minutes or until smelling fragrant – you won’t really notice a difference in colour but they should be lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
To prepare the pineapple, trim the base, top and leaves. Slice away the skin and remove any tough ‘eyes’ with the tip of a small sharp knife – don’t worry about slicing into the flesh, the grooves and hollows are perfect for holding the sticky caramel. Place in a snug-fitting roasting dish.
Add the sugar, 200ml water and rum to a saucepan. Allow the sugar to melt over a medium heat then when fully dissolved, increase the heat to high.
Let it bubble for 4-5 minutes or until a rich golden caramel colour. Stir in the cinnamon stick, star anise and salt, then pour two-thirds over the pineapple, making sure it’s well coated.
Pour the remaining caramel in the pan over the pecans on the lined tray. Allow to cool so that the caramel sets hard around the nuts. If the caramelised pecans remain sticky and soft when set, place the tray in the oven with the pineapple for 5-10 minutes so that the caramel darkens to a rich golden brown. They should now set to a hard caramel.
Roast the pineapple for 45-50 minutes, basting with the caramel every 15 minutes. The pineapple should be golden and sticky, and the flesh will be soft and tender so that a knife cuts through with ease.
Once ready, remove the pineapple to a board ready to slice and pour the juices in the dish into a small pan. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat and reduce down to a thick, sticky syrup.
Break up the caramelised pecans into small clusters or roughly chop into rubbly pieces. Serve slices of the warm pineapple drizzled with the syrup and with the sugary pecans scattered over.