Cooking with Nak: Making Pineapple Beignets with a fun group of kids!

Beignets is French for donuts, but in France and in, Ivory Coast, where I grew up, beignets taste very different from American donuts. What tastes even more different are pineapple beignets.

This is a favorite recipe from my cookbook " It's a Pineapple Things!" and something so easy to make that even children can prepare them, though I do suggest adult supervision when it's time to lightly fry them.

The steps are easy:

1)Make your batter

I recommend downloading the Kindle version or getting a copy of the book to this yummy recipe and some of my flavor tricks!

2)Dip your pineapple slices

3)Fry lightly in olive oil

Enjoy! They taste best with confectioner sugar.

For convenience I use can pineapple slices. When I use fresh pineapple I love to have fun and cut the pineapple in different shapes.

Want to cook with Nak? Contact us to book a small group session.

Updated Bio (2026)

If this is your first time here, meet the author, your host, and cultural foodie storyteller: N'nako Kande

N’nako Kandé is a ceremonial entrepreneur, bilingual poet, painter, illustrator, and multidisciplinary artist whose work lives at the intersection of Nature, Art, and Kulture (N A K). Born in Côte d’Ivoire and shaped by Paris, the American Midwest, and over 20 years in Tennessee and Georgia, she creates through rhythm, ancestry, and the land.

She is the niece of the illustrious and legendary Guinean musician Mory Kanté, whose global influence helped carry West African musical heritage into international consciousness. Her artistic lineage also includes a profound connection to the late Toumani Diabaté, the world‑renowned Malian kora master who was named one of the fifty greatest African artists across media. Toumani, father of French star Sidiki Diabaté, served as the parrain (godfather) of the kora recording in her Self‑Love Blessing project, offering his guidance and blessings before his passing in 2024. His legacy includes two Grammy Awards for his collaborations with Ali Farka Touré and a lifetime of elevating the kora to global audiences.

N’nako is the founder of Kande Kulture, a wearable storytelling brand where each culturally inspired hoodie includes a QR code linking to a YouTube story that explains the meaning and heritage behind the phrase.

A prolific author, she has written over twelve books, including The Art of Rooting, which received the International Impact Book Award. Her creative work spans poetry, photography, painting, mixed‑media illustration, culinary storytelling, and culturally rooted educational coloring books.

Her artistic and cultural contributions have been featured in international documentaries produced in collaboration with Chattanooga Sister Cities, highlighting her global perspective and her commitment to cultural remembrance.

She is also the creator of the Self‑Love Blessing EP (French + English, released January 13, 2023) and the Self‑Love Blessing Trilingual Lyrics & Treasured Memories Book (released June 15, 2024), featuring French, Spanish, and English lyrics, behind‑the‑scenes photos, and stories from the making of the EP.