Experimental Dole Whips

Hi friends!

Today I'm going to talk about the magic of Dole Whips and trying to create them at home. I had the GENIUS idea to eat a Dole Whip while watching The Wonderful World of Disney. Hold your applause.

The glorious Dole Whip - even if you haven't been to Disney, you've probably heard about them.

It is the holy grail of Disney desserts.

Even my dad thinks so.

I needed to have this treat at home just about as much as I needed oxygen. Maybe even more. 

Unfortunately, I live 1,140 miles from the Disneyland and 1,410 miles from Walt Disney World. Even at the parks, they're hard to come by. At Disneyland, you need to head to the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland, where the Tiki Juice Bar is located. Use the inside line and see the show! If you’re in Walt Disney World, you will want to head to Aloha Isle in Adventureland or Captain Cook’s at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. Curse Texas and the lack of Disney Parks with Dole Whips! Just kidding. God bless Texas.

I had to get creative. So myself and a very compliant husband who seems to love me and sometimes go with me on a Disney whim or two went on an adventure. He's such a gem. I love him dearly.

Here is the recipe we used:

• 4 cups of small chunks of frozen pineapple
• 1 cup of low fat coconut milk (or milk of choice)

We just blended it on up and served it.

First try:

To sum it up quickly and precisely, FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL.

It was really bad processed pineapple soup.

We decided to try this a few weeks ago on very short notice. We didn't have a pineapple. I sent Noah to the store to get one. Of course they were out, so we settled for canned pineapple chunks. I stuck them in the freezer for about two hours before our attempt at Dole Whip making. We also used unsweetened coconut milk.

Bottom line - this was not good. And Noah ate it anyway because he didn't want to hurt my feelings.

Second try:

SO MUCH BETTER. We used the same recipe, but tweaked it a bit.

• 4 cups FRESH cut pineapple, frozen overnight. This really seemed to be the trick. You have to use fresh pineapple and make sure it freezes solid to get a decent texture.
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla flavored coconut milk
• 1/2 cup sugar because I can't control myself. Leave out the sugar if you are a health nut.
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon to add tartness

This time I used a food processor and it had a better consistency. I put the mixture in a gallon zip loc bag and stuck it in the freezer for about 25 minutes. I cut a corner off of the bag and tried to mimic soft serve style swirls. It wasn't pretty but it did the job. 

I didn't try it, but if you're more of a Dole Whip Float fan, you could serve over Dole pineapple juice.

My family seemed to enjoy it! I didn't get a picture because they didn't last long. Just note that the texture of this is more like a sorbet than a soft serve, but it had a good flavor.

At the end of the day, I'd make this again. It satisfied my Dole Whip craving without buying a plane ticket, so I'm putting it in the win column. On the other hand, it also wasn't near as good as you can get in the parks. I guess that's why I travel half way across the country to enjoy it!

Everything just tastes better at Disney.

Let me know if you try to make a Disney dessert at home! I'd love to try some more!

Have a Zippity Doo Dah Day!