You can’t go to Taiwan and NOT bring home a box or more of their pineapple cakes. In Taiwan, pineapple cake is called 鳳梨酥 (fènglí sū) and they are commonly shaped into rectangle, square or round… very different from Malaysia’s version of pineapple tart. There are quite a handful of famous pineapple cake shops in Taiwan and we managed to get hold of pineapple cakes from Chia Te and Li Yi.
Here are the comparison and our (sis & me) take on Chia Te’s and Li Yi’s pineapple cakes:
Besides the original pineapple cakes, Chia Te also produces other flavours pineapple cakes such as cranberry, strawberry, prune, acrospires walnut and original with egg yolk. Meanwhile for Li Yi, theirs consist of the original pineapple cakes and original with egg yolk.
In this post, I’m comparing Chia Te’s pineapple cake and pineapple cake with egg yolk and Li Yi’s pineapple cake.
When we were at Li Yi in Jiufen, we were given warm sample of pineapple cake. It was awesome and soft. This was the reason why we bought it because otherwise I was only there for their tai yang bing. Meanwhile, at Chia Te you need to ask the shop personal for the pastry sample.
In terms of packaging, Chia Te’s is more colorful while Li Yi’s is more on traditional look. Both are unique and interesting. Because Chia Te’s packing is bigger, you will need a larger box to fit them in.
| Chia Te pineapple cake | Chia Te pineapple cake with egg yolk | Li Yi pineapple cake | |
| Price per piece | NT$27 | NT$32 | NT$25 |
| Weight | 45g±5g | 45g±5g | ? |
| Size (in cm) | 4.4×4.4×2.4 | 4.4×4.4×2.4 | 4.5×4.5×2.5 |
| Shelf life | 40 days | 15 days | 30 days |
| Color | golden brown | golden brown | light golden |
| Pastry to filling ratio % | thin pastry, more filling (20-80) | thin pastry, more filling, egg yolk look like mashed version (15-85) | almost equal pastry to filling ratio (50-50) |
Chia Te’s pineapple cake with about 20% pastry and 80% filling. The pineapple jam is coarse/textured. It has this fruity and sweet taste.
Chia Te’s pineapple cake with egg yolk is about 15% pastry and 85% filling. Pastry is thinner because (I guess) of the need to accommodate the filling and egg yolk. Pineapple jam taste similar with the original (of course) and if you include the egg yolk, it sort of feels like eating mooncake!
Li Yi’s pineapple cake with about 50% pastry and 50% filling. To be honest, I’ve never seen anything like this before (the equal amount of pastry and filling ratio). The pineapple jam is fine and smooth with fruity taste and slight tanginess. Compared to Chia Te, Li Yi’s pineapple cake is less sweet. When bite into it, Li Yi’s has very loose crumbly pastry.
Our verdict:
Chia Te’s pineapple cakes are more expensive by a small amount, smaller in size but with good amount of pastry to filling ratio. And although Li Yi’s has almost equal pastry to filling ratio, it wins in my sister’s book. She prefers Li Yi’s pineapple cake because it’s less sweet and it has that slight tang to it.
As for me, I’m not a fan of both of them because of the fruity sweet taste. If I have to choose I will choose our Malaysia’s version of pineapple tart. LOL Most probably I’m so used to this kind of taste.
In the end, it boils down to your personal preference. So when you’re in Taiwan, try their samples. If you like them, buy it. 😉
Tsk, do also check out the comparison I did with tai yang bing from Li Yi, Sugar & Spice and Chia Te here.
4 Comments
Yum!! I like Chia Te pineapple cakes! Someone brought back from Taiwan and I had a chance to taste it. Mainly because the pastry is thin! LOL! But yes the pineapple filling is a little too sweet. If only they can reduce the sweetness. Actually I prefer pineapple fillings that have a mixture of sweet and sour.
That’s why we are Malaysians. Hehehe We prefer sweet and sour pineapple fillings. 😉
One look at Li Yi’s and I know I won’t like it. Simply because of the thick pastry haha!
Haha but for me who likes eating pastry this is kinda godsend.