Like every Singaporean has his/her best chicken rice place, I also have my personal favourite pineapple cake (鳳梨酥; feng li su) brands (and it’s different from my mom’s!). So today I want to share mine and my mom’s top picks, and some other brands that local people like to buy as souvenirs! And places to buy if you are in Singapore but have a craving for it!
Before I start, please note that technically, the pineapple cake is not made by pineapple mainly! Because the pure pineapple sauce is a bit sour and comes with a fibre texture, the key ingredient of pineapple cakes is winter melons actually. There are some shops that started to produce pineapple cakes made by pineapple entirely because more people start to look for lesser sweet choices. To distinguish 2 types of cakes, we call the one made by pineapple “authentic pineapple cake” (土鳳梨酥; tu feng li su). But don’t worry, in this article, I will share the top picks for both!
1. Pan’s cake (小潘蛋糕坊; xiao pan dan gao fang)
Pan’s Cake is located in an alley in Banqiao (板橋; ban qiao), New Taipei City (新北市; xin bei shi). Given it’s just a local bakery, the milky smell and sweet taste is well known to almost everyone in Taipei. Their pineapple cake is good, but you must try the egg yolk pineapple cake (鳳凰酥; feng huang su). You will be addicted to the sweet and salty flavour for sure! But to be honest, this bakery is not located in the Taipei City area. Because of the long distance and long queue, I only recommend you to buy online unless you have a local friend who can help you.
You can search on Shopee if you are in Singapore.
Address of Pan’s cake: No. 11-1, Lane 135, Zhongzheng Road, Banqiao District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 220 (google map)
2. SunnyHills (微熱山丘; wei re shan qiu)
The authentic pineapple cake (土鳳梨酥; tu feng li su) of SunnyHills is my favourite pineapple tart. Because it’s made of pineapple and they only use good quality local ingredients, the pineapple cake is well balanced with natural flavours. It is not too sour, not too sweet. The package is good for gifts as well.
There are a few of SunnyHills shops. If you are in Singapore, Shanghai, or Tokyo, you can find them there also! For a complete shop list, you can check https://www.sunnyhills.com.tw/store/en/
On the other hand, you can only buy from the SunnyHills Official Online Shop.
3. Chia Te Bakery (佳德; chia te)
Chia Te is established in 1975. This bakery has won a lot of pineapple cake awards. You can find not only classic pineapple cakes here, but also interesting flavours like egg yolk, cranberry, and walnut. During Chinese New Year period, people spend hours queueing for pineapple cakes as gifting! The fascinating part of this bakery is, there is only one Chi Te in Taiwan but the location is very convenient – it’s just outside the Nanjing Sanmin MRT Station!
Extra note: The nougat biscuit (蔥軋餅; Cong Ga Bing) of Chia Te is very nice. Every time I go back to Taiwan, I buy nougat biscuits for my boyfriend’s family. And they still enjoy it after a few years!
Both the pineapple cake and nougat biscuit can be found on Shopee. For those who have the plan to visit Taiwan or who are willing to pay for the international shipping fee, you can also order from Chia Te’s Official Website. Order online and collect at the shop is also available.
Address of Chia Te: No. 88號, Section 5, Nanjing East Road, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105 (Google Map)
4. AMO (阿默; a mo)
AMO is a famous cake brand in Taiwan. But AMO also produces my mom’s favourite authentic pineapple cake called Black Bricks Pineapple Cake (黑磚鳳梨酥; hei zhuan feng li su) in shops. Compare with other brands, the skin is slightly darker so the smell and the crisp taste are stronger also. So given the price is higher, my mon is willing to pay more to get one pineapple cake from AMO. There are a lot of AMO shops in Taiwan, you can check the AMO shop list here. AMO is a more niche and local choice so I can’t find places in Singapore selling it yet.
This is mine and my mom’s top picks. Not a lot but hope you enjoy the sweet part in Taiwan. 🙂
Local Tells: Places To Buy Pineapple Cakes in Taipei