I am really into developing Ninja Swirl recipes at the moment, in case you couldn’t tell. I bought myself the machine recently and although I am a Ninja Creami girl at heart, it is a bit of fun. One of the first things that came to mind for the machine is this Ninja Swirl Dole whip. It is dairy free and vegan, easy to make and requires 3-4 pantry ingredients.
Frozen pineapple, coconut milk, corn syrup (not the high fructose kind) and a pinch of salt are all that is necessary to create this tropical and refreshing dessert. Lemon or lime juice add an optional citrus zing, but I often find that the pineapple is bright enough.
A caveat, before we begin: I have never actually had Dole whip! I am Australian and we don’t have Disney here, so I am an outsider looking in. It fascinates me how much of a following Dole Whip seems to have, so I did a lot of research in order to develop this recipe.
Many recipes online use a varied sort of dairy and sweetener. Me personally? I think there is nothing more refreshing and tropical than the combination of pineapple and coconut.
Ingredient notes
This recipe uses frozen pineapple, coconut milk and corn syrup (not the high fructose kind) or glucose syrup. I daresay light agave syrup would also work well but I haven’t tested it.
The corn syrup or glucose syrup is a purposeful ingredient. It adds some sweetness, but it also adds creaminess, body and texture to our ice cream. It is my new favourite ingredient in Ninja Swirl and Ninja Creami making. For my American readers: I tested Karo light corn syrup in this recipe. It is high fructose corn syrup free and light in flavour.
For my Australian readers: glucose syrup is our most commonly available syrup. You can buy it at supermarkets or in specialty cake stores (in person or online).
The fat content isn’t a make or break ingredient here (I am also working on Ninja Creami pineapple sorbet) but I recommend choosing the highest coconut percentage when choosing any coconut product. In an ideal world, it should also be made without fibres or an extensive ingredient list. I love Ayam brand in Australia.
Pineapple is a variable in this recipe because every pineapple will have a different profile of sweetness vs acidity. Taste and adjust the mixture as needed to ensure you get the flavour profile you like.
Recipe tips
As mentioned above, be sure you taste the mixture to confirm it is sweet enough. Some pineapples are quite tart, so you may need to add more corn or glucose syrup to suit.
If your mixture is tasting too sweet, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice will help balance that out.
I do not recommend tinned pineapple or any other sweetened pineapple product in this recipe. This adds a lot more sugar to your mixture (and every brand will use a different amount of sugar). Sugar lowers the freezing point of an ice cream, so adding extra sugar along with the syrup and the natural sugar content of pineapple might result in a slushie type mixture that will not set.
There is a limit to how much sugar you can add to any ice cream recipe. Too much sugar results in an ice cream that cannot set. Remember, pineapple contains sugar too.
I highly recommend re-freezing the mixture for 20-30+ minutes after spinning it. This is particularly important in summer and when you use the higher quantity of sweetener. This just helps ensure the mixture is firm enough for soft serve before you process it.
A few times I have made this recipe, liquid has dripped out from near the piping nozzle as I process it into soft serve. I am not 100% sure why this happens but it is just the liquid from the recipe and nothing weird. At some stage I will test whether freezing the processed mixture for longer stops this from happening.
Can I use fresh pineapple?
Yes, with caveats. In my experience, fresh pineapple is either heavenly sweet, bright yellow and the perfect yielding texture or rock hard, pale yellow and more sour than sweet. Needless to say, you don’t really know which one you have before you cut it open.
The problem with using a fresh pineapple that ends up being pale and flavourless is that it is hard to say how much sugar you need to counteract this. We know that too much sugar results in an ice cream that won’t set, so you can’t just add a pile of sugar and hope for the best.
If you are confident that your pineapple is sweet and delicious, it absolutely works. I tested a nice sweet pineapple with 125g glucose syrup and it was the perfect level of sweetness.
I can’t advise how much sugar to add for a sour fresh pineapple. My general wisdom is to cap the added sugar at 150g and I don’t know whether exceeding this will work for you. Frozen pineapple is a bit more standardised in flavour and consistency which is why I recommend it for beginners.
If do you want to use fresh pineapple, make sure you don’t use the solid inner core or any pieces that are excessively firm. Trim off all the tough skin parts and chop the pineapple into cubes before proceeding with the recipe. I still cook it before blending to impart pineapple flavour and to dissolve the syrup.
Adjusting the recipe for your preferences
I have tested this recipe with 400g pineapple, 100g coconut milk and 100-125g glucose or light corn syrup. This version was nice but I did find that it gave me a sore tongue from all the pineapple (might just be me!).
The version I landed on has, in my opinion, the perfect balance of coconut and pineapple. The sweetness is bang on – not too much or too little.
You might be able to use another high fat milk in place of the coconut milk but I adore the tropical flavour. Other recipes online use all sorts of dairy free milks – macadamia, oat, etc. In fact, the official Dole Whip recipe uses ice cream, so you might even be able to use dairy milk.
I haven’t tested anything other than the recipe as outlined, but I think there is plenty of room for experimentation here. At one point I intend to try canned pineapple and coconut milk.
More Ninja Swirl and Ninja Creami recipes
- Ninja Swirl frozen yogurt
- Ninja Swirl vanilla soft serve (coming soon)
- Ninja Creami mango ice cream
- Ninja Creami coconut ice cream
- Ninja Creami high protein sticky date ice cream
Ninja Swirl Dole whip
Equipment
- 1 X Ninja Swirl machine with 470ml tubs
Ingredients
- 350 g frozen pineapple (or sweet, soft fresh pineapple, see body of post)
- 150 g coconut milk (I used Ayam brand canned coconut milk, see notes)
- 125 g glucose syrup or light corn syrup (see notes)
- Pinch fine salt
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until the pineapple has softened, the syrup has dissolved and the liquid in the pan is a milky opaque colour. Set aside to cool completely.
- Blend very briefly using a high powered blender. Blending for too long will froth up the mixture which takes it over the fill-line and makes it more difficult to process.
- Pour the mixture into the 470ml Ninja Swirl tub. Make sure the bottom mechanism is closed before pouring mixture in.
- Freeze for 24 hours with the lid off. Freezing with the lid off can help avoid the mixture developing a hump as it freezes which can damage your machine.
- When ready to eat, process the mixture on soft serve and light ice cream. Once processed, assess the consistency. If it looks very soft, place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Swap out the lid, attach the piping nozzle and process the mixture using the lever. There will be some left in the bottom of the machine that the machine can't process.
Notes
- See notes in the body of the post about using fresh pineapple.
- I use Ayam brand full fat coconut milk which has the highest percentage of coconut out of any canned variety commonly available in Australian supermarkets. You can use what works best for you. I haven’t tested a variety with added gums or fibres.
- Glucose syrup is commonly available in Australian supermarkets.
- Light corn syrup is more common in the USA. It is different to high fructose corn syrup, although some brands of corn syrup contain high fructose corn syrup. I have tested Karo light corn syrup. Light refers to the colour and flavour rather than calories and I only recommend the light variety here.
- I have not tested it but I assume light agave syrup would work well here as a syrup alternative.
- This recipe is low FODMAP per serve with the ingredients listed in the recipe card. Make sure you use a full fat coconut milk without chicory fibre or inulin.
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