Taiwanese Pineapple Cake (台式凤梨酥）

INTRODUCTION

During my ex-job, I have my fair share of tasting many brands of Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes.. My Taiwanese clients, staffs, colleagues and bosses used to give us this rather uniquely Taiwanese gift to us..

In my humble opinion, it is essentially like the pineapple tarts commonly found in this region.. comprising of a short crust pastry with some pineapple jam..

However, there are still minute differences as follow:

For the jam, some recipes have winter melon and maltose in it.. No spices like cinnamon stick were added.. With the addition of maltose, the jam is easier to get cooked
The pastry are more crumbly but full of rich butter and milk flavour.
Unlike the version here, the jams were fully wrapped by the milky pastry and hence jam is moister..

Though there is no fixed shape for Taiwanese Pineapple Cake, but the most commonly sold pineapple cake is in the shape of very neat cubic shape.. Every cake was wrapped with nice packaging and those make it a very presentable gift.

Due to its unique cake shape, a special cake mould is required.. The one I have can prepare 6 cakes at one preparation and I get mine in a Singapore bakery shop at a reasonable price of about S$10.

“Pineapple cake (Chinese: 鳳梨酥; pinyin: fènglísū; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ông-lâi-so͘王梨酥), contains butter, flour, egg, sugar, and pineapple jam. However, some bakers add or even substitute pineapple with winter melon to make the jam. Its crumbly, fragrant crust and the chewy, sweet fruit filling come together as an excellent companion for tea and other beverages.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_cake)

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe Adapted from: 凤梨酥

Servings: Prepare about 12 pineapple cakes

800 grams of pineapple flesh, cut into small pieces
800 grams of winter melon, cut into small pieces
80 grams of maltose
80 grams of white sugar
80 grams of butter

170 grams of cake flour
125 grams of butter at room temperature
50 grams of milk powder
30 grams of icing sugar
1 egg

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Boil the winter melon in a pot of water until soft. Drained and squeeze dry using a piece of cloth and set aide.

For the pineapple puree, put the cut pineapple in a blender, add the drained winter melon , blend until fine.

In a wok, melt the butter, put sugar and maltose. Bring to boil. Add the pineapple and winter melon puree. Use medium heat to stir fry the puree until your desired texture.. It took me about 45 minutes to get this texture. Let it cool completely before shaping.

Note:

Occasional stirring is required throughout the process. As you stir fry, the colour will darken due to the caramelization of sugar. In addition, more water will be evaporated making it drier. The more sugar you have added, the more sticky it will be as syrup will be formed.

The timing of the stir frying will depend on the water content of the pineapple juice and winter melon juices. I did not request for squeezing out the pineapple juice out before the stir frying as I prefer the juice be evaporated in the work and hence all the sweetness will be captured in the jam,

In the mixing bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar until light and puffy. Add the egg, beat until well combined. Sift in the cake flour and use a spatula to fold the flour swiftly and lightly . If the dough is too soft to handle, you may need to chill for 10-15 minutes before proceed to the next step.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Depending on your mould size, you will have to determine the dough and filling weight ratio. As a beginner, it is advisable that your wrapping start with a dough : filling ratio = 3:2. Meaning if your dough is 30 grams, your filling will be 20 grams. As for this illustration, dough: filling ratio is about 1:1. I used about 25 grams of dough to wrap 25 grams of fillings.

Take a dough, shape round, flatten it, put a pineapple filling on top of the flatten dough. Seal the edges, shape round again, press the cake into the mould and bake in the pre-heated oven of 180 degree Celsius for about 15-20 minutes. Once out of the oven, keep the baked cake in a close container for 3-4 hours to let it cool completely before servings. Such method of cooling will help to moisturize the pastry and make it crumblier.

CONCLUSION

I did not regret preparing this batch of pineapple cake as I find that the pastry is very different.. Of course, if you do not want to prepare the jam, you can always buy the ready made paste. Do give it a try and let me know if it suits your taste bud.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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