How to Make: Taiwanese pineapple cake, a traditional festive pastry

By Phyllis Leong January 28, 2025
How to Make: Taiwanese pineapple cake, a traditional festive pastry
The Taiwanese pineapple cake (also known as “feng li su” in Chinese) is a traditional pastry savoured during Chinese New Year. Photos: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

How to Make is a HungryGoWhere series spotlighting popular foods in Singapore and the work that goes into making them.

For most Singaporeans, Chinese New Year is a highly-anticipated season — it’s a joyous fifteen-day affair, where we indulge in as many toothsome snacks as we’d like.

Imagine sinking your teeth into crispy love letters, smoky bak kwa and buttery pineapple tarts for two weeks straight. After all, who can resist these delectable Chinese New Year delicacies

Besides these perennial festive favourites, another popular pastry is the Taiwanese pineapple cake, also known as “feng li su” in Chinese, which is similar in make to the well-loved pineapple tarts, but a touch different. 

If you’re looking for pineapple tarts with a difference this Chinese New Year, why not consider these delightful flaky morsels from Taiwan, brimming with fruity goodness? Better yet, why not make them yourself, with some guidance from chef Yeo Min of online bakery Pastories?

What is a Taiwanese pineapple cake? 

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
The pineapple is a symbol of prosperity and luck (in the Hokkien dialect, its name “ong lai” translates to “good fortune comes”), which is why most festive goodies tend to spotlight pineapple as the star ingredient. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

The Taiwanese pineapple cake is a traditional, rectangular-shaped pastry typically enjoyed — or given as a gift — during Chinese New Year in Taiwan and in Singapore, too. 

Originating from Taiwan, the snack features a rich, tart pineapple centre and is encased in a buttery shortbread crust. In some variations, candied winter melon filling is also used. 

While the steps to bake the Taiwanese pineapple cake and traditional pineapple tart may seem similar, the ingredients used differ slightly. (Of course, both are also shaped differently.)

The Taiwanese pineapple cake’s pastry exterior incorporates milk powder, on top of flour and cornflour, and a whole lotta butter to achieve the crisp, biscuit-like shortbread crust that the pastry is known for. It also touts a sweet and velvety pineapple jam filling.

On the other hand, the pineapple tarts most Singaporeans are accustomed to come with a crumblier crust that’s usually made of butter, flour and salt. Its paste-like pineapple filling is also a tad more spice-driven, perfumed with various spices such as cinnamon, star anise and cloves.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Taiwan is a major producer and exporter of pineapples. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

If you’re wondering how the Taiwanese came up with this wonderful snack, it’s because pineapple is the national fruit in Taiwan, so the majority of its pastries are centred around it. 

While it may be labelled as a “cake”, the texture of the Taiwanese pineapple cake is more similar to that of a cookie — it’s light, comes oozing with sweet pineapple jam, and is super addictive to munch on. 

Today, it’s not uncommon to see many bakeries around Taiwan hawking Taiwanese pineapple cakes. In fact, it’s so adored that you’ll even find tourists purchasing boxes to bring home (Singaporeans included), and unsurprisingly, it’s also become somewhat of a festive delicacy in Singapore!

Taiwanese pineapple cakes right here in Singapore 

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Chef Yeo Min’s speciality is in traditional Chinese pastries. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

With Singaporeans loving the Taiwanese pineapple cake so much, it might be good news to some that the addictive morsels are readily available in Singapore, and not too difficult to make, too.

Enter chef Yeo Min, the bubbly 28-year-old founder and pastry chef of online bakery Pastories, which was established in 2023 and specialises in traditional Chinese pastries

Yeo Min’s inspiration for pineapple cakes came about when she was experimenting with shortcrust pastries, and thought of trying her hand at Taiwanese pineapple cakes as a seasonal item for Chinese New Year.

Banking on Singaporeans’ penchant for pineapple-themed festive snacks, she went on to create her own version of the signature Taiwanese pineapple cake, now a popular item (10 pieces for S$48) among her customers.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Fresh out of the oven. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a bakery with delicious Taiwanese pineapple pastries in Singapore, much less one helmed by a young woman who’s a one-woman show. That’s why Pastories, where Yeo Min handcrafts every individual bake from scratch, is a gem of its own. 

The 28-year-old has worn multiple hats in her career: Founder of Pastories, a finalist in Channel 8 baking competition Creme De La Creme, human slave to her dog Lemon, and the list goes on. 

Armed with a dream to preserve the art of Chinese pastries, Yeo Min also authored Chinese Pastry School in 2023, a comprehensive guide for traditional Chinese pastry recipes. 

This passionate chef is also keen on starting a local food museum showcasing Singapore’s rich food history. 

While that’s still a distant reality, the young chef remains eager to spread her love for Chinese pastries. Today, she takes us behind the scenes of how Taiwanese pineapple cakes are made.

How to make Taiwanese pineapple cake

Step 1: Prepare the pastry dough 

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
You’ll need these ingredients for the pastry dough. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

To craft a traditional Taiwanese pineapple cake, you’ll first need to prepare the pastry dough. 

For that, start by creaming butter, sugar and salt in a mixer, until the batter is whipped to a smooth and buttery consistency.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Next up, the egg yolks. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Next, pour the egg yolks into the mixture. 

Continue whipping the batter until the egg yolks are fully incorporated. At this point, the mixture should take on a thicker, creamier viscosity.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Add milk powder. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

The dry ingredients go next, starting with adding milk powder to the mixture.

“Adding milk powder increases the milkiness and butteriness in the pastry,” says Yeo Min. It also lends the resulting cake a sweet and fragrant flavour. 

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Slowly and steadily, add flour and cornflour into the batter. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Next, add flour and cornflour. 

Be careful to not add all the ingredients at once. Do it gradually, while mixing the batter at a steady, consistent pace or risk clumping up the mixture.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Add cold water to the batter. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Once all the dry ingredients are well mixed in, add cold water to the mixture and continue stirring until the water has fully dissolved into the batter. 

This step is important — the cold water maintains the gluten content in the flour, which imbues the dough with a richer flavour. 

The last step involves placing the dough into the refrigerator overnight. This process allows the dough to rise, ensuring that the resulting pastry crust won’t crumble easily and can hold its shape well.

Step 2: Prepare the pineapple filling 

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Be careful with that knife. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

As the pastry dough chills, Yeo Min recommends using that time to work on the pineapple jam filling. 

She suggests using slightly unripened pineapple to make the filling, which has a tarter, tangier flavour profile (compared to its riper counterpart).

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Dice it all up. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Once you’ve skinned the pineapple, channel all your inner rage and dice the pineapple into tiny cubes! (Yeo Min suggests using a serrated knife, which helps to slice through the pineapple easily, for this whole process.)

Ensure that the fruit is evenly chopped up to a jammy consistency, but yet, not too finely — you’ll want some bits and pieces, still. After all, who doesn’t enjoy having juicy chunks of pineapple that burst in your mouth as you bite into the pastry?

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Whip out the frying pan. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Add the pineapple filling to a frying pan on high heat.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Pour sugar into the mixture. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Then, add sugar to the filling.

Sporadically stir the mixture at a slow and steady pace, and let it cook for over an hour.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Add lemon juice to the mixture. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Next, add some lemon juice into the mixture, which gives the pineapple jam filling a vibrant zestiness, while continuing to stir the mixture at a slow and steady pace.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Add unsalted butter to the mixture, if you’d like your pastry to be extra fragrant. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

After an hour, the pineapple jam should have caramelised to a tantalising, golden-brown hue, signalling that the jam is almost ready. 

For the final touch, add a slab of unsalted butter to the mixture. As the butter melts, it infuses the pineapple jam with an aromatic, creamy oomph. 

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Leave the pineapple jam to chill in the refrigerator overnight. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Now, the filling should appear slightly dehydrated as it bubbles on the frying pan, and the pineapple juices cooked off. 

Remove the jam from the heat, scoop it into a bowl, and leave it to chill in the refrigerator overnight.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Knead the pineapple filling into small balls. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

After the pineapple filling has thawed overnight, roll it into small balls and place them on a small tray. These will be folded into the pastry dough afterwards. 

Step 3: Assembling the pineapple cakes

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Wrap the pineapple filling with pastry dough. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Take the pastry dough out of the refrigerator. 

Delicately knead and fold the ball of pineapple jam filling into the pastry dough, just like how you would a dumpling. 

As you seal the filling into the dough, you’ll want to ensure the filling is even and not too thick, so that it bakes nicely in the oven later on.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
You’ll need a rectangular cavity mould. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

This next step, which transforms the ball of dough into its iconic rectangular shape, differentiates the Taiwanese pineapple cake from the local ones you usually see, which veer towards being round or open-faced. 

For this, you’ll require a rectangular cavity mould. Insert the pineapple-filled dough into the mould and gently even out all edges, until they’re flushed with the tool.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Perhaps a dozen? Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Once everything is in place, arrange the freshly moulded pastries on a metal tray and slip them into the oven to bake.

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
Into the oven they go! Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

Preheat the oven to 170°C and leave the dough to bake for about 25 minutes. 

How to Make Taiwanese pineapple cake
We can’t wait to dig into these pastries already. Photo: Abdul Rahim Anwar/HungryGoWhere

By the time the Taiwanese pineapple cakes are ready to come out of the oven, they’ll have turned a beautiful golden shade

The finished product comes with a crisp and airy exterior, while its filling is piquant and aromatic with bits of succulent pineapple within. All in, it’s a decadent, luscious treat that will have you gobbling it up in seconds. 

To best enjoy this warm, festive snack, pair it with a cup of hot tea for the ultimate indulgence.

For other recipes, check out how to make flaky Teochew mooncakes, a recipe from Amara Hotel’s Peony Jade. Alternatively, catch up on the latest openings in town.

Do explore the GrabFood Dine Out service for awesome deals.


Picture for WP

Phyllis Leong

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The resident sweet tooth with a severe addiction to desserts.

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