Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes (Tarts) 鳳梨酥 | Angel Wong's Kitchen

It's Angel. Today I'm excited to share my recipe of Taiwanese pineapple cakes. Now this is my very first baking video tutorial so it's kind of an exciting moment for me but I wanted to share this recipe because it's a very famous pastry that's one of Taiwan's best food souvenirs. In Taiwanese we call this Ong Lai So and the interesting thing about it is that they're typically made with a winter melon filling instead of pineapple because winter melon in Taiwan is less expensive but since we're making this at home I'm going to go ahead and use pineapple in this recipe because I just don't feel right using winter melon here. So with that let's get started and I will show you guys how to make Taiwanese pineapple cake at home. First let's go through the ingredients for the pineapple filling. We'll need a quarter cup of cane sugar, a quarter cup of light brown sugar. We'll need one 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple. Now if you can't find crushed pineapple you can also use sliced pineapple or even fresh pineapple. We'll basically want about a cup and a half of crushed pineapple that's been fully drained and removed of the liquid. Finally we'll need one teaspoon of lemon juice. Now let's prep our pineapple. If you're using canned pineapple strain and drain the liquid then using a spatula press and remove as much liquid as you can. A little liquid is okay but not too much. In the end we should have at least one and a half cups of crushed pineapple. Now let's cook the filling. In a saucepan over medium heat add the crushed pineapple then both the cane and brown sugars and finally the lemon juice which will give us a bit of tartness. Stir frequently and cook until the pineapples are soft and the liquid has evaporated. After about 10 minutes it should have thickened to a jam-like texture like this. When you're done transfer it to a bowl to let the filling cool. Once it's cooled put it in the fridge to chill and firm up. Now for the shortbread. Start with one stick of room temperature unsalted butter and mix together the butter and powdered sugar first. Once those are creamed together then you can add the salt if you're using unsalted butter, your baking powder, the powdered milk, and a whole egg. Mix everything again then slowly add in the sifted cake flour. Once the dough is mixed completely lightly flour a countertop or cutting board to make the shortbread. Next roll the dough into a log shape and divide into three pieces. It doesn't have to be exact, rough estimates are fine. Then with one of those pieces roll into another log and divide again into three pieces. Repeat until you have nine pieces total. Now for the fun part. Roll one of the pieces of dough into a ball then gently flatten into a shape with your hands or a rolling pin. The circle should be about three inches in diameter. Then take a scoop of the chilled pineapple filling and place it in the center of the dough. About one tablespoon is good. Next close and pinch together the dough removing any excess dough if needed. Then roll and mold into a smooth pineapple ball. When you're done place the ball into a square or rectangle pineapple cake frame and with the palm of your hand gently press down to flatten. The dough should be a bit lower than the top of the frame because it will expand during baking. Repeat this process until you've made all nine of the pineapple cakes. Now let's bake. In a preheated oven bake your pineapple cakes at 330 degrees for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove and carefully flip the cakes over. Then bake for another five to seven minutes. Once they're done cooking remove the frames and let the pineapple cakes cool before eating and sharing. So this is how you make Taiwanese pineapple cakes. I love to eat my cakes served slightly warm with a glass of hot milk tea or bubble tea. If you do end up trying this recipe at home please take a selfie with your cakes. I would love to see how they turned out for you. So until then I will see you guys next time. Bye!