Along Ziyou Road Pastry Street, pineapple cake boxes stack up like a wall. Unwrap one piece: the cream-yellow flaky crust looks like a dense little brick, pressing down on a golden filling full of pineapple fiber. One bite — first comes a buttery richness, then the pineapple's tartness, finishing with a clean sweetness. Taichung is a major hub of Taiwan's pineapple cake scene. The brands lined up along Ziyou Road and Sun Cake Street give gift-buying a complete set of options on a single street.
What is Pineapple Cake
Pineapple cake is a classic Taiwanese pastry made of a flaky crust of butter, flour, egg yolk, and sugar encasing a pineapple filling, baked and cut into square or brick shapes, each individually wrapped for gifting. The filling comes in two styles: one blends in winter melon paste for a smoother texture and stable sweetness; the other uses pure native pineapple (tu fengli), which is noticeably tart with a coarser fiber texture and is called "native pineapple cake." The crust is valued for its buttery fragrance and layering — a good pineapple cake should be flaky then crumbly on the palate, not sticky, and pairs perfectly with a sip of tea.
Taichung is one of the cities with the highest density of pineapple cake brands in Taiwan. Ziyou Road and Shifu Road are home to multiple century-old and contemporary brands. According to the Taichung City Government Tourism Bureau, Chen Yun Bao Chuan was founded in 1908 and has been passed down through five generations, making it the representative established pastry shop of central Taiwan. Other well-known brands including Rit Sun and Li Chi each have their own following, collectively making Taichung pineapple cake synonymous with Taiwan's souvenir culture. This guide does not favor any single shop, using a "Ziyou Road pastry street brand tour" as its anchor and encouraging readers to treat the whole street as a pineapple cake gallery.
How to eat it like a local
Local knowledge
Verified facts (sponsor-free)
- According to the Taichung City Government Tourism Bureau, Chen Yun Bao Chuan was founded in 1908 and has been passed down through five generations — the representative long-established pastry maker of central Taiwan.
- Taichung is one of the cities with the highest density of pineapple cake brands in Taiwan; the Ziyou Road and Shifu Road area forms the brand cluster.
- Pineapple cake is a category found across Taiwan. This guide uses the "Taichung Ziyou Road brand tour" as its anchor and does not designate any single brand as the best.
Visit tips
- Brand shops on sections 1 and 2 of Ziyou Road are dense — a single street lets you compare multiple flavors in one go. Afternoon tea time is a good window.
- Peak gift seasons (Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, Mother's Day) bring visible queues. For large orders, book in advance or avoid the final week before the holiday.
- Combine with Sun Cake Old Street, Miyahara, and Second Market for a Taichung old-city dessert souvenir route.
Data compiled from the Michelin Guide, Taichung City Government Tourism Bureau, and a large volume of public reviews. Sponsored content has been filtered out. Photos will be replaced with Dio's own channel footage after on-site shooting.