Ingredients (for 10 people)
For the dough
110 g of Type 00 common wheat flour
10 egg whites at room temperature
290 g of extra-fine caster sugar
The grated zest of 1 untreated lemon
1 1/4 teaspoons of cream tartar
1 1/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt

For the icing
120 g of powdered sugar
20-25 ml of fresh cream
1 1/2 tablespoons of filtered lemon juice

For the pineapple blossoms
200 g of fresh pineapple

Directions
Start by preparing, a day in advance, the pineapple blossoms. First, peel the pineapple and cut it into very thin slices (about 2 mm thick), helping yourself with a knife or mandoline. Using a knife, make 4 to 6 diagonal cuts on each pineapple slice, starting from the edge and going toward the center, but without reaching the other end of the disc. This will create petals for your pineapple flower. Now arrange the pineapple slices on two baking sheets lined with baking paper and bake in a static oven, set at 175°C, for half an hour, taking care to turn them halfway through baking. Once the baking time has elapsed, take them out of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 120°C. Then bake your pineapple blossoms again and bake for another 20 minutes, until lightly browned. At this point turn off the oven and, with the door just open, let them rest for an hour or so. After that, turn the oven back on, raise it to 120°C and proceed to bake your flowers for another 15 to 20 minutes, until they are completely dry. Keep them aside. In the bowl of a planetary mixer, pour the flour, salt and 200 g of sugar. Operate the machine in several pulses 5-10 times or until the dough is aerated and light. Separately, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar at medium-low speed, helping yourself with electric whips or the whisk of a planetary mixer. About a minute later, your mixture will have a foamy consistency: at this point, add the remaining sugar and continue whipping until you have a fluffy meringue.
Incorporate the vanilla extract and grated lemon zest into the mixture and continue to whisk. Take the flour and sugar mixture again and add it, in three different steps, to the fluffy meringue. Continue stirring gently with a spatula and in motions from the bottom to the top to avoid disassembling the mixture. Take a 22-cm angel food cake mold (without buttering or flouring it) and pour the mixture into it, moving the mold slightly to level and spreading it well. Preheat the oven to 165°C and bake the cake for 45 minutes, rotating the mold halfway through baking. Then bake and let the cake cool for about 3 hours, turning the mold upside down. After the resting time has elapsed, run the blade of a small knife around the edges of the mold to pull the cake away from the mold. Repeat the same operation for the base of the cake, then transfer it to a wire rack. As a final step, prepare the frosting: mix sifted powdered sugar, milk and strained lemon juice to make a viscous frosting. Finish by decorating your angel food cake with frosting and dried pineapple blossoms.



In collaboration with Fiordifrolla