What went wrong. ?Pineapple Flummery Disaster

poppysinger2, Mar 10, 6:32am
Hi fellow cooks , I made a small modification to my gran's pineapple flummery pudding . That's the dessert with the chilled evaporated milk beaten to fluff mixed with cooled half dilute lemon jellyand a bit of crushed pineapple. WellI usedsome fresh pineapple , small amount, finely choppedand when we went to eat itit was unbelievably bitterand totally disgusting .It had not set and was liquid underneath too. Was it the fresh pineapple! I made one last week with raspberry jelly and frozen raspberries from my garden and it was perfect.

245sam, Mar 10, 6:37am
poppysinger2 - it was the fresh pineapple!

I learnt the hard way many many years ago that some fresh fruits just don't work - raw fresh kiwifruit and raw fresh pineapple have an enzyme that prevents jelly-type desserts from setting.Those fruits need to be cooked (or alternatively in the case of pineapple use canned pineapple) before they're added to the desserts.:-))

poppysinger2, Mar 10, 6:44am
Thank you so much ! I suspected that it was the fresh pineapple , such a shameand a waste but never mind I know now !

davidt4, Mar 10, 7:14am
Fresh pineapple contains an enzyme that denatures protein.This is the reason that it is sometimes recommended as a meat tenderiser.

I once made a cake using fresh pineapple instead of tinned, and it turned into a sodden mess within half a hour.

245sam, Mar 10, 7:39am
Interesting.I personally have not had a fresh pineapple failure - mainly because I learnt to be wary of using fresh pineapple after having a kiwifruit dessert failure and following that up with some research as to why.Whilst finding the answer to why it happed with kiwifruit, I learnt about not using fresh pineapple in jelly-type desserts but have never before seen any reference to not using fresh pineapple in baked items, so thanks for sharing that davidt4/Helen.
Kiwifruit can also be used as a meat tenderiser however it obviously does not have the same effect in/on baked items as pineapple does - I have not tried making a cake with kiwifruit however I have successfully made muffins with raw kiwifruit.:-))

cgvl, Mar 11, 2:07am
Tamarillo's also work as a meat tenderiser.
I have also had the fresh pineapple disaster and was told if using canned pineapple not to use the juice/liquid in jelly type desserts as well