Thrice-a-Charming Pineapple Tarts

Given that my previous attempts of pineapple tarts baking was not so satisfying, I wanted to give it another try in hopes that this time around, the dough will turn out better and the sizes more consistent. Not to mention, these golden morsels are so addictive. They are quickly depleted, regardless of their look, 'cos they are super-yummylicious! 

I have to say, I'm happy with the outcome this time. The pineapple tarts turned out to be tasty and in same sizes (good-looking in my standard). Along the way, I also found some pineapple-tarts-making improvements, though the expert bakers may already know them. For example:

• Rubbing-in method, though painstaking, is my preferred way of making pastry dough (you know the saying: no pain, no gain).
• If you leave the dough too long in the fridge, they get very hard.
• Even if you have non-stick rolling pin, dough mat, and cooking sheet, using working flour in addition makes life so much easier.
• If you scooped out the pineapple jam and let cool a little, it is much easier to roll them into balls before rolling over with the dough strips. The pineapple jam is sticky when it is warm.
• You can mix the remainder of the pineapple juice (that resulted from your painstakingly grating/shredding the pineapple) with DonQ and relax while waiting for your pineapple tarts to bake and/or cool.

So, I braved myself and took them in to work for sharing. They were well-liked. One of my coworkers even thought that they were store-bought. I'm just glad I could share some Malaysian love... and the prosperity the pineapple tarts would bring for everyone!

As for the remainder, I shall lock them up for Reena, who is visiting this weekend. Else, I may just nom-nom-nom all of them myself!!!


Pineapple Tarts for Chinese New Year
Pineapple Filling:
A pineapple, about 4 lbs
400 gm of white sugar
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of butter
1 pc of cinnamon stick
8 cloves
1 - 2 star anise

Remove skin and black eyes off the pineapple.
Grate/shred pineapple into a large bowl.
Strain off half of the juice. Save the rest of the juice.
Put the grated pineapple and all the ingredients into a saucepan and cook till the jam is thick and on the dry side. This takes about 45 - 60 minutes.
Adjust the sugar to your liking. If the jam is too dry, you can add in some pineapple juice that you saved in the previous step until you get the right consistency.

When pineapple jam is slightly cooled, scoop out about 1/4 tsp of pineapple jam and place on parchment paper to let cool. When cooled, pineapple jam can be easily formed into balls to be placed onto strips of dough.


Pastry:
125 gm of butter
30 gm of icing sugar
220 gm of all purpose flour (remove 2 tbsp and replace with corn flour)
2 egg yolk
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Lightly beat 1 egg yolk with 1 tsp of water for glazing

Cream butter with icing sugar using rubbing-in method.
Add in egg yolk and vanilla extract, cream until combine.
Add in flour and mix into a dough.
Put dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out dough to 5 mm thick using groved rolling pin to get a striped pattern. Then roll diagonally to form checked pattern. (I couldn't find a groved rolling pin. So, I rolled out the dough. Then, use a knife to create the checked pattern.)
Cut into strips. Turn pattern over. Fill the initial section with pineapple jam. Roll pastry over and trim off the excess. Repeat.
Glaze and bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 15 minutes.