Foodie Friday: Grilled Desserts

Grilled Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs
Via Menu Musing
What's your favorite thing to cook on the grill?  Steak?  Chicken?  Have you ever thought about grilling the best part of the meal - dessert?  Well you should try it!  We've found some great recipes for grilled desserts.  Enjoy!

Grilled Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs
Yield: (4 skewers)

Ingredients: 
1/2 pound angel food cake (won't need it all)
12 strawberries 
1/4 cup strawberry preserves
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp good quality vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

These can be made ahead of time and grilled just before dessert.  

1.  Whipped cream sauce -  Mix together the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Beat until soft/medium peaks form.  Caution - don't let it go too long or it will turn into butter. Get it a bit thick first... Then add the powdered sugar. You can see the soft peaks in the bottom.  Then add the zest of about a half of a lemon to the top, and refrigerate the cream until you are ready to serve.  This is probably more whipped cream dip than you will need, but I'm sure you'll put it to good use.

2.  Prepare the strawberries - Remove the hulls. Melt some strawberry preserves in a small bowl.  I just microwaved it for 30 seconds.  You want it liquified.   Dip the strawberries into the melted strawberry preserves.  Use a fork to get them out and "drain" them as you go.

3.  Prepare the angel food cubes - Cut your angel food cake into cubes. You want them to be roughly the same size as the strawberries, and the same size as each other.  If some are really large and some small, the smaller ones won't touch the grill.  Size and uniformity does matter in this one. You need 8 equivalent cubes of cake.

Now just put them together.  I used double skewers. If you are using singles, use two at a time.  Hold them slightly apart while threading the food onto them.  This will keep the fruit and cake from swiveling around.

4.  Grill and serve -  When you are ready to grill them, brush the cake with melted butter on each side.  The butter will help to prevent the cake from sticking, and it will also help form that lovely crust.  Grill the kabobs on a medium grill or grill pan about 4 minutes per side.  You should see some really nice grill marks on the cake.  The berries will also get a slight char on them.  Serve hot with the lemon scented whipped cream dip.




Grilled Apricots with Brioche and Vanilla Ice Cream
Via Delish

Grilled Apricots with Brioche and Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:
8 ripe apricots
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. sugar
4 slice brioche (about 1 inch thick)
2 tbsp. Warm honey
2 c. vanilla ice cream

Instructions:
Preheat gas grill to medium, or prepare a charcoal grill for direct grilling over medium heat. Drizzle apricot halves with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Grill brioche slices, 1 minute per side; grill apricots 2 to 3 minutes per side. 
Transfer brioche slices to 4 individual serving plates. 
Top with apricot halves, 4 to each slice. Drizzle with honey. 
Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.




Easy Rum-Soaked Grilled Pineapple
Via Gimme Some Oven

Easy Rum-Soaked Grilled Pineapple

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes 
Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (plus extra for dusting)
1 pineapple, cored and cut into about 6-8 rings (choose desired thickness)
cooking spray
favorite vanilla ice cream

Instructions:
In a small bowl, mix together rum, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Then in a glass baking dish (or other container), lay out the pineapple rings and pour the rum mixture over them. Toss to coat, then let soak for at least 15 minutes, flipping the pineapple midway through.

When you are ready to cook the pineapple, strain out the extra rum sauce from the pan of pineapple, and transfer it to a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 6-8 minutes, or until reduced by half. Set aside.

While the sauce is cooking, heat a grill pan or saute pan over medium-high heat until hot. Lightly grease the pan with cooking spray. Add pineapple slices in an even layer (you may need to do this in multiple batches) and cook for 1-2 minutes per side until browned and grill marks appear. Transfer to a serving plates, and set aside. Repeat with remaining pineapple.


Top each pineapple ring with a scoop of ice cream and drizzle with rum sauce. (If desired, you can also lightly dust the pineapple with some extra cinnamon.) Serve immediately.


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