Pineapple Tarts
This is a classic recipe that our family baked traditionally every lunar New Year. Pineapple tart （黄梨塔） symbolises good luck & prosperity and is always baked and gifted to family and close friends during this special occasion.
Growing up in Singapore, I have many many fond memories of eating pineapple tarts when visiting relatives and friends, and neighbors; besides pineapple tarts there were other traditional goodies to eat during Lunar New Year.
My family enjoys the open-face pineapple tarts where you can see the golden delicious-looking jam on top on top of the buttery base. This sweet treat does take a bit of work but the result is the joy of your family members eating these tasty morsels.
There are two components to making pineapple tarts. it is made up of delicious homemade pineapple jam paired with a buttery tart base. These tiny morsels are best eaten with Chinese tea as well as other traditional treats such as peanut butter cookies, kueh baru (鸡蛋糕）, love letters （鸡蛋卷) and many more.
Traditionally, the pineapple filling is made by removing the skin of fresh pineapple and chopping the fruit finely. Drain away the juice, add sugar and then fry the pineapple in a medium-sized pan over medium heat till the juice is almost evaporated. Reduce the heat and simmer until the jam is thick and sticky. It is important to stir constantly to prevent the pineapple from being burnt. You can also add cinnamon, star anise, and clove according to preference and taste.
Some key tips regarding the pastry, when rolling out the dough it is important not to make it too thick as it will affect the taste of the pineapple tarts. Also, when rubbing in the butter cubes, use your fingers instead of your palms as the heat from the palms will melt the butter and you not be able to achieve a breadcrumbs-like texture.
With the recent kitchen instrument Thermomix addition; my daughter E and I were able to make batches of these goodies quickly. The machine took out a lot of the time-consuming processes such as stirring the jam, standing by the stove, as a result, we were able to move on to other tasks efficiently. Most importantly, Thermoix’s precision cooking allows for the consistent output of the pineapple jam taste.
Tips:
- To keep the consistency of pineapples, we used canned pineapples for the jam.
- We recommend rolling the pineapple filling into 8 gram balls and chilling it before working on the tart base.
- You can purchase special pineapple tart cookie cutters for the open-face pineapple tarts. If you don’t have any, like us we use any round cookie cutter and just make an indentation with a spoon. Our cookie cutter circumference is 4.5cm. Then place the pineapple jam balls on top of the individual tarts.
- While rolling the dough, make sure your surface is floured to prevent the dough from being stuck on the surface. Use a pastry knife and dust it with flour to place cookie rounds onto a baking tray.
- This beautiful pineapple cookie is best eaten fresh however they keep well in an airtight container for a few days.
This recipe is from Thermomix Australia but has been adapted for our needs.
Pineapple Tart
Equipment
- Thermomix
Ingredients
Pineapple filling
- 1500 g pineapple chunks in juice (we used 3x825g cans of Dole pineapples)
- 100 g sugar, adjust to taste
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves
Pastry
- 350 g plain flour
- 20 g milk powder
- 20 g caster sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 250 g unsalted butter, cold, cut in cubes (1 cm)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 egg (beaten)
Instructions
Pineapple Jam
- Place pineapple chunks in mixing bowl, chop 5 sec/speed 5. Drain blended pineapple using Varoma dish to discard excessive liquid. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely.
- Place blended pineapples pulp, sugar, cinnamon stick, and cloves in a mixing bowl, cook 40 min/120°C/speed 1 or until it thickens. Clean mixing bowl.
- Scoop 1 teaspoon of pineapple jam (approx. 8 g) and roll into a small ball. Repeat this step until all jam is used and put the balls in the fridge while you work on the dough
Pastry Tart
- Place plain flour, milk powder, caster sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl, pulverise Turbo/2 sec/1 time.
- Add butter, mix 5 sec/speed 5.
- Add egg yolks, mix Dough /20 sec
- Transfer dough to a bowl, cover with cling film, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prepare your baking trays and line with baking paper. Preheat oven to 170°C.
- Roll the dough onto a floured surface to be around 1cm thick. Use a round cookie cutter or pineapple tart cutter and cut the rounds. Place tarts onto the baking trays with baking paper
- Place the chilled pineapple balls onto the tarts.Using a pastry brush, brush pastry surface with lightly beaten eg
- Bake for 20 minutes (170°C) until lightly brown. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before serving or storing in an airtight container.
Notes
- To keep the consistency of pineapples, we used canned pineapples for the jam.
- We recommend rolling the pineapple filling into 8 gram balls and chilling it before working on the tart base.
- You can purchase special pineapple tart cookie cutters for the open-face pineapple tarts. If you don’t have any, like us we use any round cookie cutter and just make an indentation with a spoon. Our cookie cutter circumference is 4.5cm. Then place the pineapple jam balls on top of the individual tarts.
- While rolling the dough, make sure your surface is floured to prevent the dough from being stuck on the surface. Use a pastry knife and dust it with flour to place cookie rounds onto a baking tray.
- This beautiful pineapple cookie is best eaten fresh however they keep well in an airtight container for a few days.