Two Grilled Desserts to Die For
"Grilled desserts" may seem like a contradiction in terms, but it really isn't. Read on and see! Saturday, June 02, 2018
Recently, I stumbled across a recipe for grilled pineapple that turned out to be pretty darn good, and it got me to wondering: what other kinds of grilled desserts are available to the discerning grillmaster?
I already knew that you could grill just about any meal course, from salad on up, but I'd never done desserts. Well, there turned out to be a lot of them, so here are a couple of the fruits of my research. Both are genuine barbecued desserts. Seriously.
Grilled Pineapple
Let's start with the one that initially piqued my interest. It's easier than pie... which is a bit complicated on the grill, actually. (I might cover that someday).
The ingredients are pretty minimal. Start with a ripe pineapple, peeled and cored. Slice it into rings, and marinate those rings in a nice Muscat wine for 3-4 hours (for flavor only, mind you). Then toss it on a hot grill, flipping it as soon as grill lines form. Don’t let it stay on too long, or it'll char.
Once off the heat, sprinkle cracked sea salt over the slices, and serve 'em with vanilla ice cream. Heaven.
Grilled Banana Splits
This one is just a bit harder, and requires more ingredients. It's still easier than pie, though. You'll need:
4 ripe bananas, sliced lengthwise (leave the peels on!)
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1/4 cup of brown sugar
Vanilla ice cream
Sweet sauces of your liking (chocolate, caramel, etc.)
Whipped cream
Chopped nuts
This is a recipe you'll need to use after the coals have burned way down and aren't too hot -- in other words, after you've finished with everything else. First, melt the butter in a small saucepan on the grill and mix it with the brown sugar. Then brush it on the exposed sides of the banana halves.
While the brown sugar is soaking into the banana, spray the grill with some non-stick coating. Next, toss those bananas cut-side down on the grill, and cook them until the brown sugar mixture is caramelized to a golden brown and baked right in -- a matter of about two minutes.
Droolworthy Results
Then turn the banana peel side down, and brush on even more of the brown sugar/butter mixture. Cook them for three more minutes, until they're nice and tender. Then remove them from the grill, peel them (carefully), and put two slices each in a dessert bowl.
Add the ice cream immediately while the bananas are still warm, along with your extras. Then dig in. The contrast between cold and hot, and the interaction of flavors, is delightful... enough to make Your Humble Writer drool just thinking about it. It's definitely one grilled dessert I'll be making again.
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