Pineapple cake (凤梨酥)

Pineapple cake is probably the most famous pastry from Taiwan. It is one of my favorite pastry. Most pineapple cake on market has blended in mostly winter melon and just a hint of pineapple flavor. I like the Taiwan Sunny Hills pineapple cake which is almost entirely made from pineapple. It has a sour flavor and coarse texture.
I went to Miggi's kitchen to learn pineapple cake from her and now trying this recipe on my own for  the first time.

Part 1: Prepare Filling

Ingredients:

Pineapple - 1 whole about 1400g
Sugar - 200g
Mal tose - 300g

Steps:

1. Peel and dice the pineapple. Use blender to make pineapple sauce and pour into a sauce pan.

2. Bring pineapple sauce to boiling and then keep cooking with medium heat. Do not stir the mixture to avoid splashing.

3. Turn to low heat, add in sugar, and Mal Tose. Cook until the mixture is thick and there is no more liquid. Stir the pineapple mixture until it is golden brown.

5. Place the filling in refrigerator for later use.

Part 2: Prepare Skin Dough

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter (softened)- 102g
Powdered sugar - 72g
Clarified butter - 92g  (I made this from butter by simmer the butter and take out the clear liquid)
Egg - 2 (about 102g)
Milk powder - 52g
Salt - 1tsp (4g)
Baking soda - 1tsp (4g)
Cake flour - 328g

Steps:

1. In a mixing bowl, add butter, sugar, and clarified butter. Use a electrical mixer to blend them well.
2. Add egg in the mixture and blend well.
3. Add milk powder, salt, baking soda, and cake flour in the mixing bowl gradually and blend well.
4. Cover the dough for later use.

Making the pastry 

The portion of filling and skin is about 1:1. My mold is small and I like thicker skin, so I took about 16g filling with 20g skin. Miggi's mold was bigger and she recommended 20g filling with 25g skin.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Rub some oil on hands, portion out the filling on a kitchen scale, and roll them into balls.

3. Wash your hand clean, portion out the skin dough on a kitchen scale, and roll them  into balls.
4. Flatten the skin ball and wrap the skin dough around the filling ball, and roll it into a ball.
5. Arrange all molds on cookie sheet. Put the balls into the molds. Use fingers to push it to fit in the mold.

6. Place tray in oven, bake for 15 minutes. Then take out and flip each pastry. Put in oven for another 5 minutes. Take out the molds when the tray is cool.