One of the things on my shopping list for Taipei was pineapple cakes from Chiate Bakery.
I tried my first pineapple cake when I was a child visiting Taipei. I never liked the thick dry crust and overly sweet filling. But when a friend of my dad’s gave him a box of pineapple cake from Chiate Bakery my dad forced me to try it. With one bite I was in love. The crust was buttery, crumbly and just thin enough to hold it’s shape. The pineapple filling had the right amount of sweetness and the texture was soft but not mushy. 
pineapple cake
picture from http://www.chiate88.com/
My cousin Angie with her son Daniel and friend Robert were our tour guides for the day. I insisted the first stop be Chiate Bakery. Despite having lived in Taipei for several years Angie never heard of Chiate Bakery. It was a good thing Robert knew where it was.
When we entered the store our noses were assaulted with the wonderful smell of buttery baked goods. We couldn’t stop sniffing in the store.All the products were laid out around the store and you get what you want and pay at the counter.
On this long table were all the flavors of pastries. Aside from pineapple there was also pineapple egg yolk, cranberry, longan, plum, whole wheat cherry pineapple and walnut flavors. You can buy per piece or pack an assortment in one of the empty boxes on top. Boxes were available for 6, 12 or 20 pieces. We tried different flavors before deciding to buy the pineapple, cranberry and walnut flavors. Overall the pineapple cakes were still the best. 
There was a steady stream of buyers that kept the cashiers busy. Chiate is definitely one of the best if not the best source of pineapple cake in Taiwan. Be sure to buy a box or 5 next time you’re in Taipei and give 1 to me! 
Their web site is in Chinese but with the help of Google Translate I copied this screen shot of their products. 
picture from http://www.chiate88.com/
operating hours: 7:30 am – 9:30 pm
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