Canned Vs Frozen Pineapple, Which Is Better For Baked Goods?

Canned and frozen pineapple are both wonderful ingredients with their own strengths. But how does each work in baked goods? Is one always better than the other? Food Republic turned to expert Sofia Schlieben, Corporate Pastry Chef at JF Restaurants, to get some insight.

Schlieben said it all depends on what you're making: "In general, apples and berries are best used fresh for pies, as they hold their shape and texture better when baked. Other than that, frozen or canned fruit is fine." Provided you don't mind your pineapple losing some of its texture during the bake, you can use canned fruit; in fact, many recipes require you to cook the fruit down in sugar, which canned pineapple already has plenty of. Frozen pineapple, however, may absorb too much heat from the oven as it thaws and is not always the ideal pick.

"Personally, I prefer canned pineapple over frozen pineapple because the canning process enhances its sweetness and tenderness," Schlieben added. Canned pineapple's additional sugar and tenderness makes it a fantastic baking ingredient with tons of applications, whether as a substitute or as a key piece of a recipe.

How you can use canned pineapple in a recipe depends mostly on whether it's sliced, chopped, or crushed, and whether it's preserved in juices or syrup. All of these factors have a place in different recipes and both the flesh and liquids can provide dynamite sources of flavor.

Canned and sliced pineapple stored in syrup is excellent as a topper on everything from roasted hams to pineapple upside down cake. Its size gives you a firmer texture than chopped or crushed pineapple, letting you slice off bite-sized pieces to accompany your pillowy cake. Using canned crushed pineapple to make jammy fillings for tarts and other small baked goods is an excellent choice. Since they're already chopped and suffused with sugar from juice or syrup, it's easy to simmer them down into a thick liquid. Crushed pineapple is great as a filler or mixed into dough as it's even smaller than chopped varieties and won't compromise its structure.

Canned pineapple's liquid can also be used as an ideal substitute for moisture and sugar in baked recipes. In something like the Southern classic hummingbird cake, it actually calls for the juice or syrup to provide its characteristic sticky sweetness and fruity flavor. However, you'll need to look at the ingredient info on the back of the can to determine how much sugar is in it before you start making substitutions. You'll also need to measure out the liquid to determine how much moisture it really has so your baked goods don't dry out in the oven.