This 5-Ingredient Pineapple Soft Serve Couldn’t Be More Simple

Creamy scoops of ice cream piled high in a cone. Bowls of refreshing sorbets and granita. Icy popsicles that dribble onto your hands as you eat. Frozen desserts are one of the best parts of summer, and this soft serve recipe from Food & Wine culinary director at large Justin Chapple is perfect as a warm-weather treat or whenever your tastebuds are craving a tropical vibe. Pineapple and coconut are the star flavors, coming together in a dessert that requires just five — five! — ingredients and even fewer steps to make.

The soft serve can easily be adapted based on what you have available (e.g. frozen pineapple instead of fresh pineapple, or another fruit entirely). The best part, Justin says, is how the airy, fluffy soft serve becomes silky and creamy as it melts in your mouth. Check out some of his key tips for preparing it and start making room in your freezer.

Make sure you cut up the pineapple

Justin recommends cutting the pineapple into half-inch chunks before freezing so that the fruit will puree more easily, resulting in that fluffy texture. If you have store-bought frozen pineapple you want to use up, that works, too — again, cut it up into smaller pieces before adding to the food processor.

No pineapple? No problem

If you don’t have pineapple or would rather use another fruit, strawberries or mangoes would also be delicious.

Sweetened condensed milk is an option, too

In another soft serve recipe — named one of our 40 best recipes in 2018 — Justin uses sweetened condensed milk instead of coconut cream, combining it with frozen fruit, vanilla extract, and kosher salt.

Spike it

If you want to make this a boozy soft serve, by all means. Simply swap out a quarter cup of the coconut cream with a rum of your choice. Justin recommends an aged Jamaican rum, which will stand up to the robust flavors of the dessert and complement the pineapple and coconut.

Save some for later

Once the soft serve’s done, serve it right away or transfer it to an airtight container and freeze it for about an hour until it’s just firm. Any leftovers you have can be frozen for up to three months, so you can enjoy the treat long after summer’s over. When you’re ready to serve, sprinkle on toasted, unsweetened, flaked coconut; grab a spoon and dig in.