Spiced Pineapple And Rum Sundae

It is like the best parts of a tropical vacation when you can’t afford one. The Spiced Pineapple and Rum Sauce adds a perfect compliment to the vanilla ice cream.

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Spiced Pineapple and Rum Sundae using vanilla ice cream. This tropical dessert is so easy to make, and honestly transports me to a tropical island when I eat it. One night I had people over and needed to whip up a quick dessert after dinner, and created this little gem. I had some pineapple I needed to use and luckily had vanilla ice cream in the freezer. I threw the pineapple in the pan to heat it up and then added spices, brown sugar. Then figured why not throw in some rum too! Well the sauce ended up amazing and it was so simple! Since I love serving anything with a cocktail I had to make a drink to elevate the experience.

The Spiced Pineapple and Rum Sauce takes about 10 minutes to make, if the pineapple is already cut. It really is just slightly sautéing the pineapple to get some color. Then adding everything to the pan and cooking down to desired thickness. It couldn’t be more simple! Serve over store bought vanilla ice cream (or your favorite ice cream) and it is sure to be a hit! Pair it with this Piña Colada Old Fashioned, an old fashioned inspired by the flavors of a piña colada.

Spiced Pineapple and Rum Sundae Recipe Notes & Substitutions

Pineapple– Use fresh pineapple. For a quick guide on how to cut a fresh pineapple, check out this blog post by Bon Appétit. If you don’t have fresh you can use the canned kind, however fresh is better. If you use canned pineapple, you reduce the sugar by 1 tbsp and add 1 tbsp of lime juice. This will help brighten up the flavor and manage the sweetness. I also recommend tasting your pineapple before cooking. If your pineapple is very sweet you may want to reduce the sugar. Conversely, if your pineapple is not quite ripe and more tart you may want to increase the sugar. It is much better to try it beforehand rather than guess or hope it will work out.

Coconut Oil– When I made this the first time, there was a crunch in the ice cream. At first I thought the ice cream had crystalized but it was new. Then realized the crunch had a coconut flavor, and realized what it was! The coconut oil had frozen when it hit the ice cream and solidified into chips. It was like little chocolate chips, but coconut! An unintended bonus of coconut oil. I also love the flavor of coconut and pineapple, so I chose coconut oil originally. If you prefer, use butter. If you do not want the crunch of the coconut oil there are two ways to stop it. First, add a little cornstarch in the rum or second add 1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk. I almost included the coconut milk in the recipe, but liked the crunch from the coconut oil.

Brown Sugar– You can use cane sugar if you want, but the brown sugar works better with spiced rum. If you do not have brown sugar add 1/4 cup white sugar with 1 tsp molasses. Otherwise, if you caramelize the cane sugar a little before adding the rum. This will help get a dark color and richer tones. Maple syrup you would have to thicken more but it would work, although it would change the flavor.

Spices– I used cinnamon and allspice, both were ground. Feel free to include other spices like ginger or even nutmeg. If you like more spice, add more. I even added cayenne pepper once, it was good but be mindful the amount!

Spiced Rum– Use whatever spiced rum you like, it will work. If making the Piña Colada Old Fashioned with this, use the same rum for both to better help the pairing. If you do not want to use alcohol, you can use some pineapple juice and rum extract. When using rum extract use about 1.5 tsp with 1/4 cup of pineapple juice.

Vanilla Ice Cream– I love vanilla with all the flavors of the Spiced Pineapple and Rum Sauce Sundae. If you want sub in another type of ice cream, chocolate would work really well with this too. If using chocolate ice cream, stir in 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract when you remove it from heat.