Inarguably, one of the most popular snack souvenirs that is most commonly associated with Taiwan is the Taiwanese-style pineapple cake. Typically brick-shaped, it consists of a thin crust of crumbly shortcrust pastry filled with a pineapple jam. These little pastries are found everywhere in Taiwan, from convenience stores to boutique bakeries, they’re synonymous with souvenirs in Taiwan. One can’t claim to be a gourmand having left Taiwan without sampling at least one of these cakes – the souvenir stores lining Taipei’s TaoYuan International Airport was lined with sample after sample of these little cakes. You literally cannot escape them.
The History of Pineapple Cakes
Pineapples form a large and growing industry in Taiwan, now one of the largest exporters of the peculiar fruit in the world. Supposedly having grown pineapples as far back as the 17th century, it was not until Japanese colonisation that the little country began to can its fruit. Following the establishment of this industry during Japanese rule, Taiwan became the 3rd-largest producer of pineapples in the world.
Following World War II, the fall of Japan’s power in Taiwan destabilised the pineapple industry but only for a short while. By the mid-twentieth century, after some heavy reorganisation, pineapple canning returned to popularity as a big money-maker for the little country. However, competitors sprang up left and right, causing instability in the market that forced the Taiwanese government to regulate canned pineapple products more strictly. Any canneries who failed to become compliant under certain standards were no longer allowed to export their products, forcing the industry to become much more domestic.
Bakeries took advantage of the fruit, incorporating them into pastries, and the rest is history. Though originally created as a ceremonial food, a combination of government-run promotional campaigns and globalisation of Chinese and Taiwanese food products soon saw pineapple cakes as an unstoppable industry. Now one of the top-selling souvenirs of Taiwan, the pineapple cake industry – supported by agricultural tourism and rural industries – has become a billion-dollar business.
What’s the Difference?
Pineapple cakes generally appear all the same; a small block of pastry hiding the golden jam inside, but not all are made alike. You can find a couple of minor differences between pineapple cakes, which can affect the quality. Generally, a more expensive cake will contain better ingredients, though of course this is not always the case. In the case that it does, the butter may be of higher quality – such is the case of SunnyHills, who boasts New Zealand butter.
A cheaper pineapple cake can also have less pineapple. A portion of the pineapple in the jam is substituted with wintermelon or a similar gourd, whose jelly-like texture acts as a filler. Unsurprisingly, this also affects the taste, with these pineapple cakes often tasting milder than those with 100% pineapple. Some may prefer this, as the jam can be very sweet or tart.
We also noticed throughout our trip that the pineapple jam can either be sweet or sour. Sour jams have less sugar, and in the cases we’ve tried tastes more strongly of pineapple. We preferred these, such as Dawncake’s native pineapple cake in Taichung, but of course this is all subjective. Those who don’t enjoy sour foods may not like it as much.
Despite all of this, it’s difficult to differentiate pineapple cakes if you aren’t highly accustomed to it, and haven’t tried a selection side-by-side. While we would recommend spending just a few dollars more for a better quality, they are also more perishable, and who knows if the receivers can tell the difference. Regardless, we highly recommend sampling them when you can – they’re affordable, easy to find, and a delicious reflection of Taiwan’s rich and complex history.
DIY Experiences – Making Pineapple Cake Souvenirs
There are several big names that locals rely on for their pineapple cakes – SunnyHills and Dawncake are a couple of examples that we particularly enjoyed, as well as this one independent bakery in Jiufen’s Old Street with an excellent sour pineapple cake. Kuo Yan Ye (郭元益) is also a very notable brand in Taipei, and one that caught our eye because of its offer of a DIY cake-making experience. This is offered in their Museum locations, one of which is in Yangmei, Taoyuan about 40 minutes’ drive outside of Taipei, and one in Shilin.
Booking the Experience
Three courses are offered: pineapple cake, creative cookies, and bean pastry, which varies in price and availability. You can visit this English webpage for more details. You can book the experience through links on this page – while the registration sheet is in Chinese, we used the browser translator to help us with this process. Bookings are confirmed via e-mail, though payments are made on-site (credit card available).
Please be advised that you are required to select 3 ideal dates for the experience, as well as a morning or afternoon session, and because of minimum class numbers you may not be allocated your first choice of time slot. This may vary, but we received an e-mail confirming the slot we were to attend 2 weeks prior to the class.
Prices for the courses are NTD150 (US$5) for creative cookies, NTD300 (US$10) for pineapple cakes, and NTD500 (US$16.70) for the bean pastries. An extra NTD50 (US$1.70) is charged per person for entry fee, but this also includes tickets for walking around the museum and acts as a voucher of equal value that is redeemable in the gift shop with their selection of baked goods.
The DIY Experience
Expect to turn up around 15 minutes before the experience starts to get yourself sorted. It’s located on the 4th floor of a building (via elevator), and while there is signage, may require a little bit of searching. Upon arrival, we signed in to confirm our reservation and paid for entrance and class fees. When the class started, we were directed to a table which had a flag to indicate which language would be spoken to us – while we were the only English-speaking group, we were properly accommodated to.
The ingredients are all pre-weighed. An introduction is given with translations, and instructions are also demonstrated at the front of the class. The process is fairly step-by-step, with alert assistants to guide you. We found it was fairly straightforward despite the chaos of how many people were in the class, many of whom were children with parents. Though we had a few fumbles, it’s a fairly foolproof recipe because ingredients are clearly separated and the visual cues are very clear.
After completing the pineapple cakes, we were led to the 5th floor, where the museum is located. Though not large, there is some history of the company and Taiwanese celebrations, as well as Taiwanese traditional wear for visitors to try. There is time allocated to exploring this area before the cakes are finished with baking.
Once that’s done, 9 of the 10 pineapple cakes are wrapped – the last is for you to enjoy while you bathe in the smell of butter and pineapples. They advise that the cakes are consumed within 3 weeks for optimal enjoyment. When we were released, we took a look at the giftshop for a souvenir to take home, using the NTD100 (US$3.35) redeemable from the price of the entrance ticket.
For full enjoyment of the experience, we’ve omitted bits here and there, but it’s a 2-3 hour experience that’s great for children, friends, or couples, and ends with a neat little souvenir to take home to share. This hands-on activity was one of our top picks for Taipei.
Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry (ShiLin Branch) (郭元益糕餅博物館)
111, Taiwan, Taipei City, Shilin District, Wenlin Road, 546號4樓
Mon-Sun 9am-5.30pm
English Page
