One Pan Taiwanese Pineapple Cake
This spin on Taiwanese pineapple cake is based off my Pan Manju recipe. Sweet pineapple filling is sandwiched between two cookie crust layers for an easy version to make for potlucks and parties! See notes for ways to customize the crust to be more similar to the original Taiwanese pineapple cake.
Ingredients
Pineapple Filling
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 20 oz cans crushed pineapple
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar 50g
- 1/2 cup maltose 200g
Crust
- 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter 225g (2 sticks)
- 1 cup sugar 200g
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk 60mL, see notes
- 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour 312g
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- In a strainer, drain the cans of crushed pineapple. Gently press the crushed pineapple against the sides to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add strained pineapple, sugar, and maltose. Cook over medium heat until all ingredients are dissolved and all the liquid is evaporated, about 5-10 minutes. Pineapple mixture should turn a golden brown and have no liquid left bubbling at the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and line a metal 9x9" baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, baking soda, and salt until light and fluffy.
- Add sweetened condensed milk and flour and gently mix until a dough forms. Divide dough in half.
- Press half the dough into your prepared baking pan until dough is evenly flat.
- Gently spread about 1 1/2 cups of the pineapple filling over the dough (you probably will have about 1/2 cup of pineapple leftover).
- With a large piece of plastic wrap, gently flatten out the remaining half of the dough into a roughly 9x9" square. Transfer flattened dough to your pan, placing it on top of the pineapple filling and gently pressing the dough until it touches the edges of the pan.
- Brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg (you may not need to use the whole egg) and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow pastry to cool completely before slicing into rectangles. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for three to five days.
Notes
- Please read the above blog post for two different options in crust texture! The written recipe crust is buttery, golden brown, and slightly crisp. For a more pale, cakey crust, you can substitute whole milk for the sweetened condensed milk and substitute 1 tsp baking powder for the baking soda. Omit the egg wash with the option to add the beaten egg directly into the crust before you add the flour.
- Read blog post about substituting honey or corn syrup for the maltose.
- The leftover pineapple filling can be used like jam! Or to fill or top a different dessert.