Hummingbird Cake – Day One – How to Make Dehydrated Pineapple Flowers
This week I’m in a tropical mood from my Caribbean Cruise! I came home last week and I was thinking of a chocolate dessert but I just wasn’t feeling it… Then I was thinking of something with grapefruit… but again, I just wasn’t feeling it. Then I was flipping through some cookbooks and found a Hummingbird Cake. I’ve been wanting to make some pineapple flowers for a while, so I thought that this would be the prefect time to make them!
This week, I’ve made some dehydrated Pineapple Flowers, Pineapple Frosting and a Hummingbird Cake that was absolutely stunning!
Well, I’ve taken off more time than I thought I would with Christmas, New Years, and then my cruise. I really didn’t mean to go nearly a month without any posts… Ugh!
But, these recipes take time and I made a promise to myself (and to you) not to just post a recipe for blog filler. I want only quality recipes with stunning photos, so I decided to wait until I could deliver a great recipe!
I hope this was worth the wait.
I’ve been wanting to make these dehydrated pineapple “flowers” for a few years now. There’s an awesome tutorial making them here that I followed.
I thought I would be clever and make my really thin with my mandoline slicer
The really super thin ones were almost tissue paper thin and very, VERY delicate. However, they did make the centers of these flowers very pretty. It was quite a fortuitous mistake.
Once your pineapple slices are dried and you’re ready to make your flowers, simply add a dab of frosting to the center of a thicker flower and add the thinner one to the center. Add a second dot of frosting and then three silver dragees
It really is a stunning display that is great on a cake, cupcake, or cake pop! It’s perfect for a Spring or Summer dessert! Or, whenever you’re in a tropical mood.
I hope that you give these a try! They sure made a big impression on my cake! They were definitely the WOW factor to the dessert!
Go ahead and eat them, too. They are a great sugar-free fruit leather treat for the kids!
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
- ½ Pineapple
- Preheat the oven to 225 and line two baking sheets with cheesecloth.
- Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple, then cut off the sides. Remove all of the "eyes" from the pineapple. Cut naked pineapple in half.
- Using a mandolin, slice 12 slices very thin. Place them on to the prepared pan.
- Open the blade up and cut another 12 pineapple slices that are thicker and place them on the second prepared sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes and then check on the thin slices. Remove just the thin slices from the oven and gently peel off and flip over. They will stick to the cheesecloth, so be careful.
- Bake for another 10 minutes then remove the thin slices and place them on an inverted mini cupcake pan. Set aside.
- Remove the thicker slices and flip them over carefully. Bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the thicker slices from the oven and place them into a standard cupcake pan to curl up and create a flower shape. Turn the oven off and place both pans into the oven with the door cracked to continue to dry out.
- Leave the "flowers" in the oven overnight with the light on. This will help them to keep drying out.
- Store in the oven with the light on until ready to use or place them into a dry plastic container and leave them on the counter. Do not refrigerate.
- Do not make the flowers until you are ready to decorate the cake.
These are absolutely beautiful!. Thanks for linking them to Tips & Tricks this week. I pinned them to our Tips & Tricks Recipes board on Pinterest.
Thanks so much for stopping by!