Machine Production of Pineapple Cakes, Sun Cakes, and Flaky Pastries

Most Taiwanese gift pastries share the structure "crust wrapped around filling, then baked." Pineapple cakes (鳳梨酥) are a buttery shortcrust around pineapple filling, baked in square molds; sun cakes (太陽餅) and Dajia pastries (大甲酥餅) are a flaky crust around maltose or other fillings, flattened and baked; taro pastries (芋頭酥) are a two-color flaky crust around taro paste. When mechanizing these products, they can be looked at in several stages.

Can Pineapple Cakes Be Made with an Encrusting Machine?

Yes. The pineapple cake crust is a short, crumbly dough made from butter, eggs, flour, milk powder, and the like, and the filling is pineapple filling (or pineapple and winter melon filling). The structure is "a ball of crust around filling," exactly the job of an encrusting machine. The products the CORNUCOPIA KN551 can make, listed on the U.S. website of Japan's RHEON, include Pineapple Cake.

Points to watch for machine production:

• Crust temperature: Buttery shortcrust softens and releases oil as soon as it warms up, making it sticky and prone to tearing during wrapping; when too cold, it is hard and cracks easily. The temperature of the work environment directly affects yield.
• Filling firmness: Pineapple filling is high in sugar and fibrous; too firm and it tears the crust, too soft and it slumps.
• Crust-to-filling ratio: The ratio of crust to filling is key to each brand's texture, and a machine's advantage is that it can lock that ratio in.

How Are They Molded and Baked After Wrapping?

The most common square shape of pineapple cakes comes from mold frames:

1. The wrapped balls are placed into square mold frames (aluminum or stainless steel).
2. They are pressed flat so the dough fills the four corners of the frame.
3. They are baked in the frames and flipped halfway through so both sides brown evenly.
4. After coming out of the oven and cooling, they are released from the molds.

Molding can be done by hand, or with automatic panning and pressing equipment connected after the encrusting machine. For high-volume lines, the number of mold frames and the processes for washing and returning them must be planned together.

Sun Cakes, Dajia Pastries, and Taro Pastries

All three use a "flaky crust": water dough wrapped around oil dough, rolled out and rolled up to create layers, then wrapped around the filling.

• Sun cakes: The filling is made from maltose, powdered sugar, butter, and the like; after wrapping, they are flattened into round cakes and baked.
• Dajia pastries: Larger, with many flaky layers and a variety of filling flavors.
• Taro pastries: Often made with a two-color flaky crust; when cut open, purple and white spiral layers are visible, and the filling is taro paste.

The layers of a flaky crust require rolling out and rolling up, so when mechanizing, the layering of the crust is usually completed before wrapping, followed by wrapping, flattening, or shaping. Oil dough is very sensitive to temperature, and once the working temperature rises, the layers get crushed.

How Are the Fillings Divided?

However the crust is wrapped, the filling needs to be portioned. Dividing the filling is the easiest step to mechanize first: the filling is extruded into a rope and cut into sections by weight, then handed off to the crust-wrapping process.

The suitable products listed on Dong-Yih Machinery's website for both the DY-528MS Taro Ball and Sweet Potato Ball Dividing Machine and the DY-528M Automatic Dough and Filling Dividing Machine include sun cake filling, Dajia pastry filling, and taro pastry filling, as well as mooncake filling, mung bean paste, and red bean paste. Specifications are 3,000–12,000 pieces/hour, 10 g–30 g per piece or heavier, single-phase 220V, 1.6 kW (three-phase 380V/415V/440V must be custom-ordered).

Many pastry shops start with this step: mechanizing filling division first so the bakers can spend their time on wrapping and baking. For whether pineapple filling is suitable, please call to confirm.

Hygiene and Storage

• Pastries are baked goods. Article 28 of the Regulations on Good Hygiene Practice for Food (食品良好衛生規範準則) requires that baked goods filled with cream, pudding, jelly, fruit, or perishable fillings be kept in refrigeration equipment during sale and storage.
• Labeling of packaged food follows Article 22 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), covering the product name, contents, net weight, food additives, manufacturer information, country of origin, expiration date, nutrition labeling, and more.
• Before cleaning the dividing machine or encrusting machine, stop the machine, cut the power, and apply lockout/tagout (Article 57 of the Occupational Safety and Health Facilities Regulations (職業安全衛生設施規則)).

For mooncakes, egg yolk pastries, and mung bean pastries, see Machine Production of Mooncakes, Egg Yolk Pastries, and Mung Bean Pastries.

FAQ

Q: Can pineapple cakes be made with an encrusting machine?
A: Yes. A pineapple cake is a ball of crust around filling that is pressed flat into a square mold and baked after wrapping. RHEON's official product list for the KN551 includes pineapple cake.

Q: How is the square shape of pineapple cakes made?
A: The wrapped balls are placed into square mold frames, pressed flat to fill the corners, baked in the molds, flipped halfway through, and released after cooling.

Q: Can sun cake filling be divided by machine?
A: Yes. The suitable products listed on Dong-Yih's website for the DY-528MS and DY-528M include sun cake filling, Dajia pastry filling, and taro pastry filling.

Q: What should I do if the buttery shortcrust keeps tearing during wrapping?
A: It is usually a temperature problem: crust that is too warm becomes greasy and soft, and crust that is too cold becomes hard and cracks. Controlling the work environment and dough temperature is the first step.