Hummingbird Cake with Pineapple Flowers

Dehydrated pineapple flowers are easy to make using the Ezidri dehydrator and are a wonderful way to add healthy edible decoration to cakes. The trick is to carefully bend the pineapple up around the edges halfway through the dehydration process.

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas, mashed.

130g crushed tinned pineapple.

285g golden castor sugar.

210g self-raising flour.

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.

170ml mild olive oil.

60ml pineapple juice, (reserved from the can).

2 eggs.

Icing:

60g butter, softened.

125g cream cheese, softened.

185g icing sugar.

8 fresh pineapple rounds thinly sliced.

Method

 To make the pineapple flowers…

 Place the pineapple rounds in the Ezidri Dehydrator and dehydrate at 55ºC for 8 hours. Halfway through dehydrating process, bend up the edges of the pineapple to make a flower shape and replace into machine for the remainder of the drying process.

To make the cake…

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Lightly grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.

Place the banana, pineapple and sugar in a large bowl and mix.

Add the sifted flour and cinnamon. Stir together with a wooden spoon.

Whisk the oil, pineapple juice and eggs together.

Add the banana pineapple mixture and combine well.

Pour into the tin and bake at 180ºC for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

To make the icing…

Beat the butter and cream cheese using electric beaters until smooth. Gradually add the icing sugar and beat until thick and creamy.

Decorate the cooled cake with icing and dehydrated pineapple flowers.