One Thing I Ate: 微熱山丘 SunnyHills Pineapple Cake 🍍

A special Lunar New Year’s unboxing post.

Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we review an award-winning pineapple cake. Read past posts here, and please follow my Instagram, @fivethingsiate.  

My parents got me a box of SunnyHills pineapple cake from Taiwan for Lunar New Year! I was so excited to try these, as my friend proclaimed they are the “gold standard.” To be honest, I’ve never had a good pineapple cake in the states before. I love them but they’re surprisingly hard to find locally, and I’ve only ever enjoyed them when Taiwanese friends have brought them back from vacation.

First impressions: A+ for packaging. These came in an adorable cardboard box, with a logo of a … bean?? riding a bicycle. Inside, there were 6 rectangular, wrapped pineapple cakes. Definitely gave me gift-receiving dopamine. I loved the smooth feel of the wax paper and how portable they are. 10/10 for design.

BIG CAVEAT: My parents went to vacation in Taiwan a while back, so these cakes technically expired on 1/24. However, they kept them in the freezer for me.

Texture: I admired how perfectly rectangularly-prism these were. We all know I love a minecraft-looking unit of food. The sides were smooth and seamless and beautifully golden browned. The filling was clearly made of real pineapple, as it was chunky and had strands of pineapple. 10/10 for looking AI-generated 

Taste: NOT SURE if this is due to the fact that these were past their due, but the filling was slightly dry and chunky for me. Also, it was definitely Not Too Sweet, which I admire, but am not always used to. The pastry was a very tender shortcrust, and full of buttery flavor, without being overwhelming. Overall, I can see why this was so highly rated, except maybe I have too strong of a Cantonese/American palate, having just eaten a pineapple pork bun which is basically a sweet bbq pork bun topped with a cookie, so maybe I was not meant for Taiwanese subtlety?? 8/10 for stringy filling

Second taste: OK, I swear to god I went in slightly skeptical but over the course of the week I somehow converted into a true SunnyHills fan???? I think there were multiple factors involved in my conversion. The main one was that I did a taste test with a local pineapple cake I picked up in Chinatown from Audrey Bakery. When eaten at the same time as Sunny Hills, it’s clear how much more artificial tasting/sweet this is. Sunny Hills tastes homemade and like a bakery case pastry, whereas this mystery-brand one tastes packaged and more artificial, almost like nail-polish remover. The dryness I complained about even started to appeal to me, because it had the texture of real dried fruit. But most of all, I realized how you absolutely need to pair this pineapple cake with tea, and not coffee. When you marry those two elements together, the true flavors come out and it’s less dry. Plus, I loved how portable these are – I stuck a pineapple cake in my purse and it was a true blood-sugar rescuer when I had a long day. I find myself already lamenting finishing the box!

Happy Year of the Dragon,

Soph

P.S. Do you have a fave pineapple cake brand? Pls recommend it to me!