This Vegan Taiwanese Pineapple Cake is delicious with the thick pineapple jam and buttery crust on the outside. Pretty to look at these cute Taiwanese pastries.
I have seen this multiple times on YouTube and I really wanted to try this myself. It is hard to find in Asian markets near me and when I did find it, the taste was lacking.
I found out most of the cheaper pineapple cakes actually are half pineapple and half winter melon since melon is cheaper than pineapple. It results in a more watered-down version of the golden pineapple cake pastry.
So I had to make it myself and I finally found one that suited my tastes and made it worth all the effort. The pineapple jam is sweet and slightly sour. It is the perfect filling for the pastry, which is close to a shortbread consistency. It is not super difficult to make, but it does take a while and you have to source a lot of ingredients from online or your local Asian market.
But if you have the time and fulfilling a craving, try out these Vegan Taiwanese pineapple cakes!
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Ingredients for Vegan Taiwanese Pineapple Cake
For the pastry you need:
- Cake Flour. Cake flour has cornstarch in it, which breaks down the gluten in flour. It will make a softer pastry shell.
- Soy Milk powder. A lot of recipes call for milk powder and I found this to be the best substitute. You can use coconut milk powder, but I found the taste to be too coconut forward.
- Custard powder. Custard powder is a, as you might have guessed, is a powder used to make custard. So it has a nice taste and the yellow color helps the color of the pastry. Some of them are accidently vegan, you just have to check the ingredients.
- Vegan Butter. I use Earth balance buttery sticks. These hold up well in baking recipes and have a higher fat content.
- Flax gel. This is also call aqua flax. It is a gel that comes from boiling flax seeds in water. It is an excellent egg replacer and really easy to make.
- Green food coloring. This is optional. Some pastry molds for this pineapple cake actually look like a pineapple. I use this to make the leafy tops. Most food coloring has egg whites or other animal products. Check the ingredients to make sure. I tried Matcha, but the flavor was too bitter.
For the Pineapple jam you need:
- Pineapple. It is kind of the main ingredient. I use a medium-sized pineapple, but of course the size will affect how much pulp you get. Be sure to adjust the sugar levels to accommodates for the size. You can also used canned pineapple rings to make it quicker and easier on you.
- Maltose. Maltose is very sticky, which helps to bind the pineapple together. So when you are rolling it together, it will stay together. Think of it kind of like a caramel. A sweet glue. It will make it easier to handle when it comes filling your pastries.
- Lemon Juice. There is a lot of sugar in the pineapple naturally, then we are adding more. The lemon juice will help balance out the flavors.
- Cinnamon. Just a tiny bit will help bring out the pineapple flavor.
You also need molds. I found these on amazon. But if you want a more traditional shape, you can get these ones. You can also make your own molds using aluminum foil.
How to Mold them
Once both the pastry and the jam have been made and cooled down, they will be a lot easier to portion out and roll into balls.
The size of the portions will depend on the size of the molds. I usually go for a 2:1 or 1.5: 1 of pastry to filling.
Once you have it portioned out, lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of a flat surface. Gently flatten the dough (it will be very soft) into a rough circle. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just make sure it’s even.
Add your jam in the middle and fold the dough around it. Then put it into your molds. Just make sure to lightly grease your molds for an easy release.
To make the green leafy part, I portioned out some dough into a small bowl and mixed in a few drops of food coloring until I got my desired color. Then I added it on.
Flatten it out 
Put the jam in the middle 
Once all your molds have been filled, put them on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper and put them in the fridge while you preheat your oven. This will help it not expand as much in the oven.
Once baked and cooled, pop them out of the molds and enjoy your Vegan Taiwanese pineapple cake.
Storing It
These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week. After that, they get really crumbly and don’t taste as good.
Want More?
Try Out Similar recipes below:
Vegan Pineapple Cake
Equipment
- Pineapple molds
Materials
Pastry Ingredients
- 250 g (2 cups) cake flour
- 60 g 1/4 cup) powdered sugar
- 24 g (1/4 cup) soy milk powder
- 30 g (1/4 cup) dairy-free custard powder
- 180 g (3/4 cup) unsalted vegan butter, softened at room temp
- 3 tbsp flax gel (to replace one egg) see recipe link below on how to make this
- green food coloring (optional)
Filling
- 500 g pineapple or a medium sized pineapple
- 60 g (4 tbsp) maltose
- 30 g (2 tbsp+1 1/4 tsp) sugar
- 10 g (2 tsp) lemon juice
- 10 g unsalted vegan butter
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Prepare the Pineapple
- Slice off the head and cut through the middle. Using a knife, cut off the skin and remove the core.
- In a food processor or blender (you can also use a cheese grater with big holes), add your core and pulse until turned into smaller pieces. Remove and add the rest of the pineapple.
Making the pineapple jam
- Pour all the pineapple, including the juice, to a nonstick pan. Add the maltose syrup, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon.
- Cook on medium-low heat until the juice evaporates. Once the pineapple turns a darker color, lower the heat and cook until it sticks together without drooping. Remember to mix continuously because it can burn.
- Put in a bowl and let cool in the fridge while you prepare your pastry.
Making the pastry
- In a bowl, mix together the softened vegan butter and powdered sugar until homogenize.
- Sift the cake flour, custard powder, and the soy milk powder and mix together carefully using a rubber spatula.
- Then add the flax gel and mix in.
- Once there are only a little bit of dry flour, start kneading with your hand. It will be sticky at first, but knead fast (or the butter will melt) until it holds together and doesn't stick to the bowl.
- One ready, put in some plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge to make it easier to work with. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Making the Pineapple Pastries
- Okay! We are on the home stretch!
- Depending on the size of your mold, you want to aim for a 2:1 ratio of dough to pastry. Or if you like a lot of filling like I do, do a 1.5:1 ratio. With mine I was able to measure 1 1/2 tbsp of dough and 1 tbsp pineapple filling.
- Measure out the filling and the dough and round out in little balls.
- Lightly grease all your molds to help the easy removal after baking.
- Once ready, gently flatten the dough into an even circle. I do this on top of some plastic wrap for easy removal. They still will be soft.
- Place the filling in the middle and gently encase it in dough. It might be a little tricky at first to master, but just make sure no filling is expose because this can ruin your pastry.
- Gently push into your lightly-greased mold.
- If you have a pineapple shaped mold like mine, you can portion out some dough, 100g or so (about 1/4 cup) and mix with drops of green food coloring until it turn into a leafy green color. I tried Matcha, but the flavor was too strong.
- Repeat for all your filling. Then let rest in the fridge until ready to bake.
Baking Time
- Preheat oven to 350°F and bake for 25 minutes or until the tops become more golden-brown.
- Let cool for 15 minutes and gently push out of the molds. Then it is ready to taste.
Notes
I hope you try this recipe. If you tried this recipe, let me know in the comments below.