Tropical Fruit Gratin Recipes

Steps:

• Lop green top off pineapple and place on a cutting board. Slice covering off in strips from the top down. Remove hard pineapple core with a fruit corer or simply by slicing ripe part away from the core. Cut pineapple into wedges. Remove seeds from cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew and cut ripe part of melon into half moon shapes, or into spheres with a "melon baller," or into any shape you like. Arrange fruit on a platter and garnish with whole strawberries. Can be served with fruit dipping sauce such as yogurt or honey based dressing.

Steps:

• Drain fruit salad, reserving 1/4 cup juice (discard remaining juice or save for another use). In a bowl, combine yogurt, honey and reserved juice. Fold in fruit salad, apple, strawberries and grapes. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Clean the fruits, remove the stone of the peaches and chop in cubes.
• Put all the fruit in an oven-proof dish.
• Top with the crumbled macaroons.
• Mix the orange juice with the lemon zest and sprinkle over the fruit and cookies and leave for about half an hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Whisk the egg whites in a very clean bowl, when stiff add the sugar gradually with the vanilla essence, whisk untill glossy.
• Spread the egg whites on top of the fruit and cookie mixture, try to pattern it a bit.
• Bake for approx 10 minutes (keep an eye on it) until colored to your liking.
• Serve garnished with mint and a scoop of ice cream (optional).

Steps:

• Preheat broiler; set rack as close to heat source as possible (even 2 inches is not too close).
• Wash, pit, stem and peel the fruit as necessary. Cut stone fruit in halves or slices, as you prefer. Cut strawberries in thick slices; leave smaller berries whole. Place the fruit (at least 2 cups full) in a baking or gratin dish just large enough to hold it.
• Whip cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar until it is thick and just barely holding soft peaks; stir in the vanilla extract. Pour cream over and around the fruit. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
• Broil carefully, allowing cream to brown all over and even burn in a couple of spots; rotate baking dish during broiling if necessary. Remove and serve.

Steps:

• Grease and lightly flour eight 1-cup fluted tube pans or six 4-1/2x2-1/2x1-1/2-inch individual loaf pans and set pans aside.
• In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
• In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds, add brown sugar; beat until combined.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until combined (The batter may appear curdled).
• Combine 1/4 cup rum or pineapple juice, 1/4 cup pineapple juice, the corn syrup, ginger, and vanilla.
• Add flour mixture and rum mixture alternately to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
• Fold in fruit bits and nuts.
• Spread batter in prepared pan.
• Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes for fluted tube pans or 30 to 35 minutes for loaf pans or until a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean.
• Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool at least 1 hour on racks.
• Poke holes in cakes using a wooden toothpick or bamboo skewer.
• Soak eight or six 8-inch-square pieces of double thickness 100-percent cotton cheesecloth with the 1/3 cup rum or pineapple juice and wrap each cake in rum- or juice-soaked cheesecloth.
• Wrap each cake tightly in foil or seal in a plastic bag.
• Chill in refrigerator for 24 hours.
• Remove foil or remove cakes from bags; drizzle with 1/4 cup rum or pineapple juice. Rewrap with foil or return to plastic bags and refrigerate at least 24 hours.
• Remove cheesecloth before serving.
• If desired, sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar. Makes 6 or 8 cakes (24 servings).
• Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare Tropical Fruit Cake as directed through until the 24 hr chill, except refrigerate up to 5 days. (Or prepare Tropical Fruit Cakes as directed through up to 24 hr chill, except do not sprinkle with powdered sugar. Place in self-sealing freezer bags. Seal, label, and freeze up to 3 months.)
• To serve, thaw frozen cakes in freezer bags in the refrigerator overnight. Serve as directed.

Steps:

• Preheat oven broiler.
• Mix fruit and lime zest in a bowl. Divide mixture among six 125 ml (1/2 cup) ramekins and set aside.
• Reserve 1 tablespoon sugar. In a saucepan, blend butter, remaining sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in egg yolk and cream.
• Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, always stirring, until thick.
• Remove from heat and add in vanilla. Allow to cool and reserve.
• Using an electric mixer, beat egg white in a bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add in reserved sugar, continuing to beat until soft peaks form.
• Fold egg white (incorporate gently with a spatula) into reserved cream mixture. Carefully spoon cream onto fruit and sprinkle with brown sugar and coconut.
• Cook under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden.

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler; set the rack as close to the heat source as possible (even 2 inches is not too close).
• Wash, pit, stem, and peel the fruit as necessary. Cut stone fruit in halves or slices as you prefer. Cut strawberries in thick slices; leave smaller berries whole. Put the fruit-there should be at least 2 cups-in a baking or gratin dish just large enough to hold it.
• Whip the cream with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the vanilla until it is thick and just barely holding soft peaks. Pour it over and around the fruit. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Broil carefully, allowing the cream to brown all over and even burn in a couple of spots; rotate the baking dish during broiling if necessary. Remove and serve.
• Using sour cream in place of cream will produce a strikingly different result. Sour cream is thick, rich, flavorful, and (obviously) sour; sweet cream becomes thinner and saucier in texture: Combine 1 cup sour cream with just enough milk-about 1/4 cup-to allow you to whisk it smooth. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and proceed as directed, using 1 tablespoon brown sugar for the topping.

Steps:

• Place the sugar and ginger in a glass jar and let stand for 2 days. Preheat broiler.
• Toss the mango, papaya and oranges together with 1/2 cup of the ginger sugar.
• Place the mixture in a 10-inch quiche dish. Top with the pineapple rings. Coat the pineapple heavily with the remaining ginger sugar.
• Broil until the sugar is caramelized, for a sugary, even crust, about 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Halve apples lengthwise (quarter if large), leaving stem intact, and core halves with melon-ball cutter. Halve Seckel and Forelle pears or quarter Bartletts lengthwise, then core with melon-ball cutter and trim root ends.
• Melt butter in a 14- by 9-inch oval gratin dish or other 2 1/2- to 3-quart shallow baking dish in middle of oven, about 2 minutes. Stir in Calvados and 3 tablespoons brown sugar, then add fresh and dried fruit and zest and turn gently to coat. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake in middle of oven, gently turning fruit and basting occasionally with juices, until apples and pears are tender but not falling apart, about 1 hour. Remove dish from oven.
• Preheat broiler.
• Spoon 1/3 cup baking juices from baking dish into a bowl and stir in mascarpone and remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rearrange fruit, cut sides up, in baking dish to form an even layer, if necessary, and spoon mascarpone mixture over fruit. Put confectioners sugar in a fine-mesh sieve and sift over fruit. Broil gratin 3 inches from heat until confectioners sugar is caramelized, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Available in Italian markets and many supermarkets.