Dried Pineapple Flowers

To commemorate the upcoming 2012 Pineapple Festival I would like display some true Bahamian hospitality by showing you how to create these gorgeous dried pineapple flowers. When I first spotted this DIY during one of my many-of-hour-long Pinterest stints I knew I had to try my hand at them. At first glance I thought to myself these are going to be time consuming, ironically I have few hours of “island time” in the day, in reality though they couldn’t be much easier!

Step-by-step:
1. By boat or plane get to Gregory Town Eleuthera and purchase one of our tasty Eleuthera pineapples, as pictured here (just kidding, sort-of).

2. Slice off the top and bottom of the pineapple with a serrated knife.

3. Cut off the rind and scoop out any of the eyes or seeds that remain. You can do this with a small melon baller or use a measuring spoon, as I did.

4. Using a sharp non-serrated knife slice the pineapple very thinly so that the slices are almost translucent.  Lay them out on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.  Bake at 225˚ F to dry them out slowly.  Timing will vary, but a good starting point is 30 minutes, flip and then 30 more minutes. Keep a close eye on them as the timing varies based on how thinly you were able to slice the pineapple.

5. After removing from the oven pinch the center of each pineapple slice and shape into a cone, place in a muffin tin or let cool in a clean egg carton to form the “flower.” Allow to air dry completely.

6. Enjoy!

Lastly, an Experience Tip – to create colorful “flowers” you can soak the pineapple slice(s) in food coloring overnight before baking! 

P.S. Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, naturally.

About the Pineapple Festival:  Established in 1987, before Hurricane Andrew swept misfortune across farmers’ fields in the summer of 1992, the Pineapple Festival was established to honor these farmers and bring together Bahamians. It is reported that prior to the natural catastrope 50,000 pineapples were exported every year and the pineapple industry was the mainstay of approximately 40 farmers in the small settlement of Gregory Town. The annual festival which takes place in Gregory Town Eleuthera is typically celebrated over Labour Day weekend – this upcoming weekend – however, the event has been pushed back to the weekend of June 27th – 31st. This upcoming weekend there will still be traditional festival components like the Pineapple-a-thon and the Cycle Race taking place.

– To read how to get to Eleuthera and what should be on your Island Itinerary go here. For further information please contact Tom at “Tom@bahamasadventures.com” for Pineapple-a-thon details and Barron Musgrove at “Barronmusgrove@yahoo.com” for the cycle race –