Pineapple Tarts - Round Two

Baking pineapple tarts has now become a yearly tradition in the house of Loh. I started this about 4 years ago when I was a pretty amateur baker. Every year, I discover past mistakes and together with my mom, figure out ways to make these babies even tastier.

The recipe isn't difficult - it's just incredibly tedious. It takes me barely 20 mins to put the dough together and it's in the refrigerator before you know it. The really painful part is having to cut each cookie shape, egg-washing it, and then rolling the pineapple jam. When I first started, I decided that they taste good enough to be sold (which I did, at 50 cents per piece!), and my god, it was tiring. Lucrative, but really not quite worth the pain. I also have to fess' up that I didn't make the pineapple filling (as seen with picture below). I've learnt that it's too much work for very little outcome!

You can get the store-bought pineapple jam/filling in any supermarket (or asian supermarket)! I got mine at NTUC.

In my previous entry, I merely linked the blog from which I got the recipe. This time, I've made my own amendments below. I feel that this is still a work in progress, but for now, this is pretty damn good! If you compare the look of the previous tarts with the one I have done now, I would say the disparity is pretty stark!

Pineapple Tarts

Original recipe from this blog. They also have the recipe for the pineapple filling if you're interested. 

Ingredients

450g of pineapple filling (commercially-bought or homemade)

370g plain flour plus extra for dusting 2 tablespoons caster sugar (not regular fine sugar, as I have mistakenly photographed in the picture above)280g cold unsalted butter 2 egg yolks1 teaspoon vanilla essenceEgg glaze: 1 egg yolk mixed with a few drops of water (to thin it)

Steps: 

Step 1:

• Measure out the flour and sugar. Sift flour and sugar. Mix well.

Step 2:

• Cut butter into small cubes and add to flour mixture. It helps if you chill your butter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes prior to cutting.

• Use fingertips to rub the butter into the flour, until it becomes a sand like texture.

Step 3:

• Lightly beat egg yolks and vanilla essence and add to butter mixture. You can use a mixer, but I mixed it by hand. Combine and knead lightly to form a dough. Wrap the dough in clingwrap and chill it for an hour to firm it up. Chilling the dough makes it easy to handle.

Step 4: 

• Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Divide dough into two portions. Keep one portion chilled. Roll the other portion (on a floured surface) to a thickness of about 7mm. Dip cookie cutter in flour and cut out shapes. You'll have to constantly dust it with flour and clean the mould!

Step 5:

• Brush egg glaze over the edges of the shapes.

• Pinch about 1/2 tablespoon of pineapple filling and neaten it to form a ball. Compress it lightly, then place on a cookie shape

• If using store bought commercial pineapple filling, remember to dilute a bit with hot water till the hard clumps are gone. This is mostly an estimate game. You want to add enough water so that the pineapple jam doesn't dry out and become too sticky and tough when you bake it. Too much water will also ruin the pastry base and won't keep so well.

Step 6:

• Preheat the oven at 180°C (375°F) for 10 minutes. 

• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Check every 5 minutes or so to make sure it doesn't burn. The time gap between perfection and burnt is quite small - so becareful! 

• Using a flat spatula, transfer the tarts to a wire rack. Allow tarts to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Okay, enjoy!