The lovely people at All Things Cupcakes featured this pineapple hibiscus cupcake on their Weekly Roundup of Cupcakes. Woohoo! How exciting is that? 
I don’t know if its something to be proud of but I can eat a whole baby Bethonga by myself. Bethonga Pineapples are in season now which means that I have squirreled three Baby Bethongas away in my fridge which I will then attempt to eat by my greedy self. I refuse to eat the normal acidic, tongue burning pineapple, it gives me the same react as sour lollies, that of gagging and wanting to rip my tongue out. By the time that my husband reads this post, the Bethongas will be long gone. I can be ruthless this way.
I did put half an pineapple aside for the decorations which are an interesting way of making these gorgeous yellow “flowers”. The cake itself is easiness personified, no beaters or creaming, just stirring in one bowl. The fussy bit are the hibiscus flowers although this requires exacting knifework (being able to very thinly slice thin pieces of pineapple) and patience (waiting for it to dry in a low oven for over an hour). Neither of which I possess.
I made these pineapple hibiscus cakes for Tropfest, the outdoor film festival at the Domain in Sydney. I confess that I was too lazy to make a batch of the lemon cream cheese frosting, instead using some sour cream icing that I had leftover. The consequence of my laziness was that the sour cream icing was too runny to sufficiently hold the flowers properly. I just hate it when laziness isn’t rewarded…
Hibiscus Flower cupcakes
For the cupcake
- ½ cup mildly flavoured vegetable oil
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 self-raising flour
- ½ cup cornflour
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 2 cups grated carrot
- ¾ cup crushed pineapple (make sure to drain this well)
Pineapple flowers
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 3 tablespoons of water
- 36-45 slices fresh pineapple as thin as you can slice it while keeping the slice whole (I used 3 slices per cupcakes for the effect that you see pictured). I have stipulated extra as some burn when you bake them. I used Baby Bethongas but if you use regular large pineapples you may be able to do 1 or 2 slices of pineapple per cupcake
C ream cheese frosting
- 30g butter softened
- 80g cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1. First make the Pineapple flowers, they are time consuming and fiddly.
2. Preheat oven to 150c fan forced or 170c non fan forced.
3. Add all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix on low speed until combined and then a higher speed until batter becomes pale. Spoon into patty tins.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool in tin.
5. Make cream cheese frosting. When cupcake has cooled (it must be cool) spread with cream cheese frosting and then add fold three pineapple flowers into a flower shape and using the traction from the frosting secure them onto the cake.
Making the Pineapple Flowers
1. Heat oven to 100°c fan forced. Dissolve sugar in water together in a small saucepan on low heat and then boil for 1-2 minutes (do not allow to caramelise). Using a pastry brush, brush each sides of pineapple slices with this sugar syrup. Place these candied slices in a single layer on a wire racks over a baking sheet. Leave to dry in low oven for one hour (approximately, do watch these as they can catch and burn). As soon as your time is up remove slices from rack, and shape into flowers inverting them over the bottom of small cups until they set that way.
Making the Cream cheese icing
Beat butter and cream cheese in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy, gradually beat in sifted icing sugar and lemon juice.
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16 Comments | Add your own
wow! that is really genius making flowers out of thin slices of pineapple…the end result certainly worthy of the hard work because they look gorgeus!
Well, today I’ve learned about Bethonga pineapples.. I didn’t know they came in this delightful variety (and LOL re: you hiding them)!
I also have never seen flowers made from pineapple like this!
Thank you for encouraging us not to be lazy when it comes to shortcuts with frosting/icing!
I have the 500 cupcakes book (the pink, pretty little hardback book)..and haven’t made anything from it yet.
You’ve done a great job on these beautiful cakes. When I read “cupcakes” in the title I knew straight away they’d look fantastic, coming from you.
I definitely have to try one of those pineapples now!
These cupcakes would make an impressive “plate” when needing to take something to a morning or afternoon tea.
woah awesome! your pineapple flowers look amazing i must ‘borror’ your idea…
Hey, where’s my PINEAPPLE???
Hi airy fairy-Thankyou! It was a bit fiddly but I liked the end result. I wasn’t too sure that they’d work out to be honest
Hi Maria-I only discovered super sweet pineapple while holidaying in Thailand. They have the best pineapple and fruit there and I couldn’t get enough of it. So when I came back my friend told me about Bethongas. Sometimes they’re not as sweet but I’ve found the Baby Bethongas reliably sweet.
I don’t have 500 cupcakes so I look forward to seeing your creations!
Thanks, I agree, they would love lovely on a sunny day for a garden party on big plate!
Hi chocolate suze-Thanks! Hehe its not my idea, its from the WW Cupcakes book (which I love) so feel free to borrow away!
Hi Mr NQN-Ummm, oh dear. I think I’m in trouble!
NQN where did you get those cupcake paper? I never seen those one, look like it’s from USA cupcakes?
I was wondering about red velvet. I tried the magnolia red velvet cupcake recipe as in the http://chockylit.blogspot.com/2005/10/red-velvet-cupcakes-with-vanilla-bean.html, but it come out as too dense, not swell enough and hard to swallow yet the taste is nice. why? I need your expertise in baking cupcake, help me…
Your cupcake has been chosen for ATC’s Weekly Cupcake Collection! Click the link to see more. Looking forward to your next cupcake creation!
http://tinyurl.com/yqgnd8
That is sooo gorgeous!! I’m so impressed!
Hi Lilia-They’re by Donna Hay and they’re called French pleated Paper cups from David Jones but several of my readers have told me that they are sold out and indeed I have a look whenever I got to a DJs and they’re gone
I don’t know if it helps at all but Red velvet is a fairly dense cake, its not really light like a sponge. I made a Red Velvet cupcake here, I don’t know how the recipe compares of Magnolia (that link isn’t working) so you could certainly try that. Good luck and let me know how you go!
Hi CB-Thanks so much! I am so happy about that!
I’ve updated this post now. Thanks again and love your site too!
Hi Stef-Thanks so much! Oh wow I just saw your last cupcake (Corned beef and cabbage). That is genius!
congrats on this lovely creation making the cut in ATC’s weekly cupcake collection
it was absolutely deserving…ya see i knew all that hard work on the pineapple flowers would pay off!
Such beautiful cupcakes, and they sound delish!
Hi airy fairy-Thanks so much. Yes the flowers were an exercise in patience for me
Congratulations on your Berry Chocolate cupcakes making it! Very well deserved 
Hi Sandra Eileen-Why thankyou so much!
Congratulations on having your cupcakes ‘featured’.
BTW, the pleated Donna Hay paper cups are back at DJs. I just bought some yesterday!
Hi Belle-Oh cool! Thanks for letting me know! That’s good to hear, they fit my pans perfectly so I want to stock up.
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