This year, I decided to be adventurous, and to try making my own pineapple tarts. There were many steps involved, and I was already tired at the first task, which was to finish rolling all the pineapple jam. It took me about an hour or so. But with a rest in-between the rolling, and a determined spirit, I pressed on! Fortunately, my sister also came over to help me.

I think we were proud of ourselves when we finished baking the pineapple tarts. Look at them - pretty and round. At one bite, you can taste that it's home-made. The taste was unlike those in the stores, but equally nice!

There was one obstacle though. We had baked the pineapple jam with the tart shell, and it was too dry by the time we took them out of the oven. In the end, we baked the tart shell first and added the jam halfway through the baking time.


I chose the following recipe as I wanted a buttery and melt-in-the-mouth kind! It's good, and reminded me of shortbread.


Recipe:
From The Little Teochew





For the Pineapple Jam
The jam was bought from Poon Huat, and I rolled it into balls weighing 8g. Recommended to roll it the day before. The jam was the drier kind, and I found that wetting your palm with water helped to smooth out the edges.

For the Pastry

- 50g corn flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp icing sugar
- 280g cold, unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
- 3 egg yolks, beaten
- 3 tbsp cold water (or iced water)
- 1/2 tsp cognac or pure vanilla extract
- For glaze, mix 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp water

Method:
1. Sift the plain flour, corn flour, icing sugar and salt together. Mix well to combine.

2. Place the cold butter into the flour. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour till it resembles coarse bread crumb. 

3. Beat together egg yolks, cold water and cognac (or vanilla extract). Add it into the butter-flour mixture. Using your finger tips, gently coax all the crumbs into one large dough ball. Do not knead. As long as all the crumbs come together, stop. Chill in the fridge for about 10mins, covered.

4. Roll out to desired thickness. Cut out dough using cutter. Arrange neatly onto baking tray, with at least 1.5cm apart.  *I found this video from Youtube helpful, as it showed me how to use the cutter to achieve the classic spiral shape we always see on the cookie.

5. Once you have arranged the tart shell on your tray, glaze them (the entire surface, not just the rims).

6. Place the pre-rolled pineapple jam balls onto the centre of each tart shell.  *As I used a drier jam, I baked the tart shell first for 10 mins, added the pineapple jam, and placed back into the oven to bake for another 10 mins.

7. Bake at 160°C for 20 minutes, turning the tray halfway through baking.