Pineapple Casserole Recipe (6 Parts, 40 Minutes)

I can nonetheless recall my childhood pleasure for the church potluck. Whereas my mother was a beautiful put together dinner—and nonetheless is—I longed to hearken to {{that a}} potluck was on the horizon on the tiny church in Charlotte, North Carolina, that we attended as soon as I used to be in early elementary college. There may very well be buckets of fast-food fried rooster, layered salads full of Jell-O that wooed my childlike fascination for all points Technicolor, and an entire desk of desserts.

It was at one amongst these potlucks that my mom remembers attaining “her” pineapple casserole recipe. Once more then, I may need politely skirted spherical this specific side dish, leaving additional room on my buckling plate for black forest cake or the second mashed potatoes that I believed had been superior to my mom’s selfmade. I now know that every the misguided mashed potato feelings and passing on the pineapple had been egregious errors.

Like so many alternative Southern cooks from the Nineteen Fifties onward, Mom turned enamored with this casserole constructed from pantry staples that weren’t pretty savory or dessert. Via the years, it moved from an occasional side dish to develop to be part of the warp and weft of the Southern culinary quilt, gracing Thanksgiving and Easter tables alongside cranberry sauce and deviled eggs. It’s even included on South Carolina’s tourism website.

Warmth from the oven, the savory-sweet combo is just almost pretty much as good with a dollop of vanilla ice cream because it’s alongside Easter ham.

The Rise of the Ritz

The Ritz is an iconic American snack cracker. Launched in 1935 on the highest of the Melancholy, it was a cheap luxurious that tasted rich and buttery, lending a decadent air to snack plates or dips. When casseroles took post-war cooking by storm, the Ritz turned a most popular topping of different.

On this casserole, its buttery style and delicate consistency play an necessary counterbalance to the sweetness of the pineapple. Substituting one different mannequin of cracker will not result in pineapple perfection.

A Modern Pineapple Casserole

The pineapple casserole wasn’t solely a preferred potluck offering; it moreover made its methodology into many neighborhood cookbooks, along with these compiled throughout the South. Whereas my family’s recipe was a pass-along, I scanned every it and plenty of the neighborhood cookbooks in my assortment to judge the general regular, then tweaked only a few points to help this mannequin ship every time.

First, my mother instructed I observe her lead and alter the dish measurement from the distinctive 8×8 to 9×13, and boy was she correct. This creates a thinner layer of pineapple, which means additional flooring house for the sugars to caramelize and deal with a deeper style as they bake.

Second, I lowered the amount of sugar (many recipes known as for 3/4 cup) and switched it from white to brown. Lastly, I quantified the number of crackers to ensure that there was a cracker crunch in every chunk.

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