Splendid Pineapple!!!

Steps

to start

• Place the gelatin leaves into a dish and fill it with water to soften them

for the pineapple

• Preheat the oven at 180°C
• Peel the pineapple and cut it in four
• Remove the heart and slice it in slices not too thick, you should be able to make small pineapple cubes (brunoise) once it’s baked
• Add the butter into a casserole that takes a lid and can go into the oven, preferably in cast iron or similar technology
• Turn the heat on and melt the butter
• Once the butter is melted, add the slices of the pineapple and cook slightly by turning them over
• Place the slices in one layer into the casserole, put the lid on and bake for 20’
• Remove the slices from the casserole and place them onto a dish to cool them down
• Once they are mildly hot, dice them in small cubes (brunoise)

for the crumble

• In a bowl stir in with a whisk:
  • the almond powder
  • the flour
  • the sugar
• Add the lemon zest, stir and cover-up, let the mix infuse for as long as the pineapple bakes
• Add the melted butter and stir everything together with a tablespoon
• Place some parchment paper in a tray going into the oven
• Sprinkle all over the crumble
• Bake for 8’
• Take the biscuit out of the oven and let it cool

for the chiboust cream with lemon

• Before starting making the cream, be sure that you have already diced the pineapple
• Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks and put them into two separate bowls
• Add just a tiny pinch of salt into the egg whites
• Start beating the egg yolks with an electric hand mixer
• Add gradually the 15gr of caster sugar and keep beating after each addition until the sugar melted into the eggs (you will feel the sugar much less as you beat)
• Add the corn flower and continue to beat to fully incorporate it
• Add in a small casserole:
  • the heavy cream
  • the water
  • the lemon zest
• Heat-up the mix of cream
• Once the mix starts to boil, pour half the quantity on the egg yolks and remove the casserole from heat
• Start beating again with the electric hand mixer the mix until the cream is fully incorporated into the eggs-sugar mix
• Pour this mix into the casserole and place it again on the heat
• Stir vividly with a whisk
• Gradually the mix is going to become a cream and at that point you need to remove it from heat
• Place the cream into a bowl, big enough to add the meringue you are going to make afterwards
• Continue to stir the cream vividly with the whisk to avoid the creation of lumps
• Drain well the gelatin by pressing it between your palm and add it into the cream
• Continue to stir vividly with the whisk until it’s fully incorporated
• Start beating the egg whites with the electric hand mixer
• Once the meringue start to form, add gradually the 30gr of caster sugar and continue to beat after each addition
• Once the meringue has risen, it will be shining and soft peaks should form, then you need to stop beating
• Take some of the meringue with a rubber spatula and place it onto the cream, use the whisk to vividly stir in order to incorporate it into the cream and thus loosen up the cream
• Add the rest of the meringue gradually with the rubber spatula and use it to gently incorporate the meringue into the cream
• At the end you will have a light and fluffy cream of a light beige color

to bring everything together

• Add a layer of pineapple cubes into the 4 verrines
• With a piping bag or a teaspoon, fill in a quite thick layer of the cream on top of the pineapple
• Sprinkle some cinnamon on top, if you like it
• Sprinkle a bit of almond crumble on top of all
• Add again one layer of pineapple, one layer of cream, a bit of cinnamon (optional) and finish up with the crumble
• Place the verrines into the refrigerator for at least 2-3h or over night
• Taste this pure delicacy and marvel!
• :-)

Tip

To make the chiboust cream with lemon, I used the recipe of the Great French Pastry Chef called Christophe Felder, which can be found in this small and extraordinary book (in French): Felder Christophe, Les crèmes, La Martinière, Paris, 2017.

This series of small books by Mr. Felder is very nice and well done because they present recipes step-by-step and they use text and photos to do so. So if you are not that good in Pastry, you can learn via these little books because you see everything step-by-step and not only the final result, plus they are not that expressive for books that have such nice illustrations :-)