TAIWANESE PINEAPPLE CAKES

until there is almost no liquid remaining.

Add the muscovado sugar and the butter and continue cooking, stirring the jam until it turns a deep golden colour and is thick enough to hold its shape.

Decant into a tub and chill until required.

To make the dough

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar until pale and creamy.

One by one, add the egg yolks and incorporate fully.

Sift in the flour, ground almonds, then add the evaporated milk and a pinch of salt and bring the mixture together to form a soft dough, trying not to overwork it too much.

Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

To make up the cakes: Lightly flour a work surface and heat the oven to 160ºC / 140ºC Fan / Gas 3.

Roll about 40g of dough into a ball and flatten it gently using your palm or rolling pin.

Wrap a couple of teaspoons of the pineapple jam into the pastry disc and gently bring it together, pinching to seal, then flipping over and shaping into a neat Eccles-cake shape, gently pressing it down to flatten it slightly.

Repeat with the rest of the dough and jam and chill the cakes in the fridge for about half an hour.

Lightly grease or spray your baking tins and pop a pineapple cake into each hole.

Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes until they take on a nice pale golden colour – you don’t want them too dark for this recipe.

Cool the cakes on a wire rack before serving, or store in an airtight container for up to one month.