Dried pineapple flowers

I first saw these dried pineapple flowers in an issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine more than 13 years ago. I've always wanted to try them. I decided as it was Grandma Kiwicakes birthday this week to give them a go on top my mini pavlovas I was making for her birthday dinner (recipe for pavlovas to come tomorrow). These elegant flowers are very easy to make.

Preheat your oven to 120C degrees. Take one whole pineapple and cut the outer rind off.

Remove the eyes with a sharp kitchen knife (this also creates variation in the edges of the flowers)

Cut thin slices and arrange on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Bake 30 minutes one side. Remove from oven, flip over and bake 25-30 minutes on the second side.

Be careful to make your slices all the same thickness. As you can see from my photo above, I burnt one, before the others were quite done, as it was thinner than the rest.

I placed them in tin foil circles I had squished in to shape using my hands, this allows them to dry with a nice fluid shape, rather than dead flat. You can make these up to three days ahead of when you need them. Refrigerate until required. I kept mine in the fridge in a container resting in their tin foil forms.