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Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2669, Ananas à la Virginie, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
A whole pineapple becomes its own chilled mould, holding rose-pink Bavarois aux fraises and golden dice of its flesh, folded only when the cream thickens so every spoonful keeps its fruit.
Ananas à la Virginie (pineapple filled with strawberry cream) teaches one thing above all: suspension. Its Bavarois aux fraises, a strawberry cream set with gelatin, should hold golden dice of pineapple through its rose-pink body, not surrender them to the bottom. Fold the fruit only when the cream has begun to take.
The original entry is brigade shorthand. It assumes one station has hollowed the pineapple, another has a strawberry Bavarois ready, and a cold room can hold enough shells for service. At home, the pineapple itself is both mould and serving dish, a small saucepan builds the gelatin base, and your refrigerator does the cold room's work. The separate production batches are scaffolding and they go; the hollowed fruit, the strawberry Bavarois, and the late fold are the dish and they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Fresh pineapple adds one difficulty the terse direction expects a trained kitchen to know: its enzyme weakens gelatin. A two-minute poach keeps the dice bright while removing that risk. Then patience decides the finish. If the Bavarois is fluid, wait; when it mounds softly from the spatula, fold in the dice once and fill the shell.
Ananas à la Virginie belongs to the Parisian grand-kitchen dessert repertory, where an imported pineapple could be ingredient, mould, and table ornament at once. Its geography is in the title, not in a claim of Virginian regional cooking: within the canon, the defining move is to replace the related pineapple Bavarois with Bavarois aux fraises while retaining diced pineapple in its own shell. That contrast between strawberry cream and pineapple is the dish's identity, not an optional garnish.
Quantity
1 large (about 3½ lb / 1.6 kg)
well scrubbed and dried
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 150 g)
hulled
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 65 g)
divided
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g)
divided
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 6 g)
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g)
Quantity
⅔ cup (160 ml / 160 g)
very cold
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large ripe pineapplewell scrubbed and dried | 1 large (about 3½ lb / 1.6 kg) |
| ripe strawberrieshulled | 1 cup (240 ml / 150 g) |
| granulated sugardivided | ⅓ cup (80 ml / 65 g) |
| cold waterdivided | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) |
| powdered gelatin | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 6 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g) |
| heavy creamvery cold | ⅔ cup (160 ml / 160 g) |
Cut through the pineapple about 1 inch below the leaves, keeping the crown intact as a lid. Stand the fruit in a folded towel, run a small knife around the inside about ½ inch from the skin, and cut the flesh into sections without piercing the shell. Lift out the sections with a sturdy spoon, remove the hard core, and cut the best flesh into neat ⅓-inch dice. Measure 1⅓ cups (about 225 g) for the filling. Turn the shell upside down for ten minutes to drain, blot the cavity dry, then refrigerate it upright with its crown.
Put 1 tablespoon (about 12 g) of the sugar and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the water in a small saucepan. Bring them to a bubbling syrup, add the measured pineapple dice, and hold the fruit at a full simmer for two minutes, turning it gently. Fresh pineapple contains an enzyme that weakens gelatin; this brief poach neutralizes it without cooking away the fruit's character. Lift the dice onto a cold plate with a slotted spoon, spread them in one layer, and reserve the syrup. Chill the dice until completely cold.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) cold water and leave it for five minutes, until every grain has swollen. Purée the strawberries with the lemon juice, then press the purée through a fine sieve. Warm one-third of it with the remaining sugar and the reserved pineapple syrup, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin, then add the remaining strawberry purée. If you see gelatin threads, return the pan to the lowest heat and stir until smooth. Don't boil it. Ça se rattrape.
Set the strawberry base over a bowl of ice and stir until it feels cool and begins to coat the spatula lightly. Whip the cold cream to soft peaks that bend over rather than stand stiff. Fold one-third of the cream into the strawberry base to loosen it, then fold in the remainder with broad strokes until no white streaks remain. If the strawberry base is still warm, stop and cool it before adding the cream or the Bavarois will lose its volume. If it sets too firmly first, hold the bowl over warm water for a few seconds and stir just until it flows again.
Chill the Bavarois for 8 to 15 minutes, checking every few minutes, until a spoonful dropped on the surface leaves a soft mound before slowly settling. Fold in the cold, well-drained pineapple dice once, working gently. This timing is the dish. If the dice fall straight to the bottom, scrape everything back into the bowl, chill for another five minutes, fold once more, and refill the shell. Ça se rattrape.
Stand the pineapple shell in a deep bowl that supports it without squeezing. Spoon in the Bavarois, bringing a little of the golden dice to each level rather than packing them down. Mound the top softly if needed. If the shell is full, set any remaining mixture in a small chilled glass rather than forcing it in. Cover the cut surface without pressing on the cream and refrigerate for at least six hours, preferably overnight. Chill the crown separately so its weight cannot mark the unset surface.
Set the crown lightly askew on the firm Bavarois and bring the whole pineapple to the table on a chilled platter. Lift the crown, then use a long spoon to serve down through the pink cream and yellow dice so every portion receives both. Let each serving stand for five minutes before eating, just long enough for the strawberry to open while the Bavarois remains cold and softly set. À table!
1 serving (about 310g)
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