Chinese New Year Must - Pineapple Tarts

With Chinese New Year round the corner, orders for pineapple tarts starts to roll again. Its hard to imagine another year has gone by so quickly.

This year, upon request from some customers, I tried experimenting with ground almond for a crispier & a nuttier pastry, the verdict - Good, but the traditional soft and melt-in- your-mouth recipe with a tinge of cheese is still the best. The fragant buttery pastry and the slightly sour pineapple jam is simply a match from heaven. So, I thought I should share with you our most favorite pineapple tart recipe before it is too late to bake for the new year. Of course, if you do not have time to bake, I am more than happy to help. Do check out our Special New Year Cookie Menu.

Pineapple Tart Dough

Plain flour, 300g
Salt, 1/4 tsp
Icing sugar, 2 tbsp (optional)

Milk powder, 30g (omit if adding cold milk instead of cold water)

Cheese powder, 20g (optional, if added, then omit salt)
Butter, 165g

Egg Yolk, 2

Fresh lime juice, 1/2 tsp  (optional)

Ice Cold Water/ Milk, 1/2 tbsp (optional) 

1. Sift flour, salt, icing sugar, milk powder and cheese powder together.
2. Rub in the butter and flour mixture, make a well and mix in the egg yolk.
3. Mix in the cold water/milk and lime juice.
4. Wrap in plastic bags. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before use.

Pineapple Jam

Pineapples, 2 Whole
Sugar (adjust according to taste)
Cinnamon, 1 stick(optional)
Cloves, 1/2 tsp (optional)
Lemon juice from one lemon

Making pineapple jam is an easy but tedious procedure. Omit cinnamon and cloves if you don't like their aroma. When making the jam, remember to stir thoroughly and constantly to avoid it getting burnt.

To assemble, just take your cookie stampers and stamp out the tarts, then roll generous balls of jam and sit them in the center of the tarts, flattening the tops slightly. Don't forget to remove the cloves & the cinnamon sticks from the jam.

Bake in the over for 15 min at 150C. Don't over bake them. When cool, store them in air-tight containers immediately between greaseproof paper as they are more fragile than the commercial ones.

Tips:

1. Chilling the dough makes it easier to handle.
2. For open face tart, try baking the dough for 5 minutes first before rolling the jam onto it. This greatly reduce the chance of getting dried and hard jam.
3. For tangerine style of tart, brush some egg yolk over the dough of the tart after baking for about 8 minutes and return them to oven for another 5 minutes or till you get a nice golden honey glaze.

Update:

An email from an old friend just came in. An ex-ardent baker, Siok, finally willing to share with me her secret short crust recipe. Trust me, these crusts are simply out of this world! And the best part is it is unbelievably simple. No wonder she kept it a secret for over a quarter century. Oops, did I just reveal our age?! Nevertheless, thanks, Siok!

Ingredients

Chilled Butter (salted), 250g
Plain flour, 450 g
Salt, 1/4 -1/2 tsp (increase a little if using unsalted butter)
Egg yolk, 3
Cold water, 2-3 tablespoon (adjust according)

Vanilla Essence, 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method

1. Sift flour and salt together.
2. Then rub in the butter till mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Make a well in the centre & add egg yolk and half of the water.
4. Knead till smooth. Add more water by spoon if necessary to make yield a soft dough.
5. Wrap dough in cling wrap and chill dough in fridge for 30 min before rolling it out.

Viola! Isn't that downright simple?! Now you have absolutely no reason not to bake your own "旺來" . Btw, this recipe can also be used for making the peanut/sesame kok zhai-  you can bake them instead of frying. How wonderful, isn't it! Thank you, Siok!