Candied Pineapple

Adapted from Epicurious.com

Makes 10-12 servings

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 3 days, plus 1 week for steeping

Ingredients

1 pineapple, peeled and cored, cut into 1” slices

4 c. water

7 c. sugar, divided

1 vanilla bean, split and seeded

Directions

1. Mix the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2. When the sugar is completely dissolved, turn off the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

3. In a non-reactive lasagna dish (or similar), layer the pineapple slices, keeping the height of the stack as low as possible so it remains submerged in the syrup.

4. Pour the hot syrup over the slices. Let cool, add the vanilla bean, and then cover. Leave it on the counter overnight.

5. The next day, return the syrup to the saucepan. Add 1 cup of sugar and bring to a boil. Place the slices in the syrup and let boil for 3 minutes. (Remove the vanilla bean first so it doesn’t cook.) Return everything to the dish, let it cool, add the vanilla bean back in, cover it again, and let it sit on the counter overnight.

6. Repeat step 5 for an additional 2 days.

7. After the last day, let the slices stay in the syrup for an additional 5-7 days.

Once finished, store the slices and syrup in the fridge.