Taiwanese Pineapple Cake

Ingredients

• 700g fresh pineapple flesh, chopped
• 250g candied winter melon, chopped
• 60g caster sugar
• 20g maltose or golden syrup
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 130g unsalted butter, softened
• 30g icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 160g plain flour
• 40g cornflour
• 20g milk powder
• 30g ground almonds

Before you cook

• Chop the pineapple flesh and blitz half of it to a rough pulp, leaving the rest in small pieces for texture.
• Chop the candied winter melon finely.
• Sift the plain flour, cornflour and milk powder together and stir in the ground almonds.
• Take the butter out of the fridge an hour ahead so it is properly soft.
• Line two baking trays with parchment and set out sixteen square 5cm tart moulds if you have them.

Steps

1. Put the pineapple, winter melon and lemon juice in a wide heavy pan over medium heat.
2. Cook for twenty minutes, stirring now and then, until most of the free liquid has gone.
3. Stir in the caster sugar and maltose and drop the heat to low.
4. Cook for a further thirty-five minutes, stirring almost constantly towards the end, until the jam is deep amber and holds a clean line when you drag a spoon through it.
5. Spread the filling on a tray and refrigerate it for one hour until cold and firm.
6. Beat the softened butter with the icing sugar and salt for three minutes until pale and fluffy.
7. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
8. Fold in the dry ingredients and stop the moment the dough comes together.
9. Wrap the dough and chill it for thirty minutes.
10. Roll the cold filling into sixteen balls of about 20g each.
11. Divide the dough into sixteen pieces of about 25g and flatten each between two sheets of cling film.
12. Sit a ball of filling on each disc and draw the dough up around it, sealing the seam completely.
13. Press each parcel into a mould on the lined tray, or shape it by hand into a neat square.
14. Heat the oven to 165C.
15. Bake the cakes for fourteen minutes, then take the tray out and flip each cake over in its mould.
16. Return the tray and bake for another ten minutes until the edges are pale gold.
17. Cool the cakes completely in their moulds before unmoulding, because they are fragile when hot.