Pineapple Floats

Ingredients:

1 pineapple - top trimmed

1 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

3 tbp packed dark-brown sugar

1 quart best-quality vanilla ice cream

1 liter club soda

Preheat oven to 425F. Peel pineapple, reserving peels. Cut flesh lengthwise into quarters. Cut out and reserve core.

Transfer peels and core pieces to large pot; reserve flesh. Add 5 cups water, bring to boil. Add granulated sugar and vanilla bean. Cook, mashing peels occasionally with the back of a spoon to extract juice for about 30 min.

Cut pineapple into 1/2 inch cubes and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook until golden, about 20 min. Transfer to bowl and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 days.

Pour pineapple-peel mixture from pot through a sieve into a large bowl, discard solids. Return liquid to pot and bring to boil.

Divide pineapple evenly among 8 serving glasses. Top with 2 tsp syrup and 2 scoops ice cream. Fill with club soda and drizzle with remaining syrup.