Miss CoCo's Closed Pineapple Tarts

After a two year rest, I've decided to rise to the occasion once again to make pineapple tarts. The last time I did it, I was heavily pregnant and it really tire me out! This year, after some research, I decided to do something different. I wanted to make closed ones!



Yes, as you can see, I've stuck to my Bunny theme... Haha...

This recipe is from A Baker's Videoblog, which is very specialize in pineapple tarts. She even teaches them in classes! For more details, videos and useful tips, check out her site. :)

She used her recipe for the typical "open" tarts, but I used it for the closed version. Turned out that the closed version is actually easier to make! Here are the ingredients:

450g of pineapple filling (commercially-bought or homemade)
360g plain flour plus extra for dusting (3 cups minus 2 tbsp)
2 tablespoons caster sugar
280g cold unsalted butter (2 sticks plus 1 tbsp)
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Egg glaze: 1 egg yolk mixed with a few drops of water (to thin it)

1. Sift flour and sugar. Mix well.
2. Cut butter into small cubes and add to flour mixture.
3. Use fingertips to rub the butter into the flour.
4. Lightly beat egg yolks and vanilla essence and add to butter mixture. Combine and knead lightly to form a dough.
5. Wrap the dough in clingwrap and chill it for an hour to firm it up. Chilling the dough makes it easy to handle.
6. Roll doughs and pineapple filling into small balls. To make sure that each tart is evenly sized, measure each piece of dough and filling using measuring spoons. For the dough, use a half tablespoon and a teaspoon for the filling.
7. Flatten the dough slightly using the heel of your palm, wrap the filling up and roll it to round it up. See here for video instructions.
8. To make the bunny design, I just add the bunny ears and poke 2 eyes. :)
   
   
9. Preheat the oven at 190°C (375°F) for 10 minutes. Bake them for 7 minutes, then remove them from the oven, brush the egg glaze, then pop them back to be baked for a further 7 minutes.
10. Using a flat spatula, transfer the tarts to a wire rack. Allow tarts to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

NOTE:

• Careful not to add to much water to the egg glaze. I added too much water, making it too watery.
• I brushed on too much glaze onto the tart, so my tart sort of 'melted' a little in the oven during baking. Just a thin glaze will do.

I love this recipe. It's very light, buttery and melts in your mouth. Hope everybody have a good time making it, and I really look forward to seeing the children enjoy the little bunny tarts too! Here's wishing all a early Happy Lunar New Year! 新年快乐!

Dad’s Pineapple Tarts

There’s 2 ways to make pineapple tarts. One way was to blend everything up using the mixer, and the other is the rubbing in method. Dad gave me this rubbing in method recipe for a more fluffy tart; basically you rub flour and chilled butter with your fingers to get a breadcrumb-like texture.

But if you have warm hands like me, you would probably end up with a overly wet dough due to the butter melting from the warmth of your hands. If that’s the case, you can use a pastry blender to cut the chilled butter into the flour. Works for me!



Warning! This dough is much more difficult to work with as it is SO SOFT!
Key points to remember:
1. Minimum hand contact – work quickly! The more you handle the dough, the softer it gets!
2. Dust! – Make sure your table, rolling pin and cookie cutter is well dusted with flour.
3. Plastic sheet – Cut out a clean plastic bag into a sheet and put it over your dough when you roll it, this would prevent the dough from sticking onto your rolling pin.

Tart pastry:
300g cake flour (sifted)
220g butter (cubed and chilled)
100g sugar
15g custard powder
1 egg yolk
Ice water

Method:
1. Roll pineapple jams into little balls and set aside.

2. Preheat oven at 180°C.

3. Mix the flour, sugar and custard powder together.

4. Using a pastry cutter, cut the chilled butter into the flour till it resembles breadcrumbs.

5. Mix in the egg yolk and gradually add in the iced water till the mixture forms a soft dough.

6. Cover up the dough and chill in the fridge for about 2 hours.

7. Dust the work area with flour before rolling out the dough till it's about 0.7 cm thick.

8. Dust the pineapple tart mould with flour and cut flour into shapes.

9. Brush sides of tarts with egg wash.

10. Bake in a greased, lined baking tin for 10 minutes.

11. Remove tarts from the oven. Fill centre of tarts with the pineapple jam balls.

12. Return tarts to oven to bake for a further 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

13. Cool the tarts on wire rack.

Pineapple Tarts

With the Chinese New Year coming, pineapple tarts are a MUST-HAVEs in every Chinese family. Being my favourite festive goodie ever, I never fail to buy some every year. This year, I've decided to take on the challange and learn how to make my favourite pineapple tart!

I got this recipe from Jo's Deli & Bakery, but I’ve reduced the quantity by half. As this is my virgin attempt in making pineapple tarts, I’ve decided to go easy on myself and use store bought pineapple jam for my tarts. :) (I bought from Phoon Huat)

Tart pastry:
150g butter
65g margarine
50g icing sugar
40g milk powder
½ egg
300g cake flour
15g custard powder

Method:
1. Roll pineapple jams into little balls and set aside.

2. Preheat oven at 180°C.

3. Cream butter and margarine in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg and beat well.

5. Sift icing sugar, milk powder, flour and custard powder into the mixture. Fold to incorporate all ingredients to form a smooth pastry dough.

6. To make it easier to handle, wrap up the dough with cling wrap and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours.

7. Dust the work area with flour before rolling out the dough till it's about 0.7 cm thick.

8. Dust the pineapple tart mould with flour and cut flour into shapes.

9. Brush sides of tarts with egg wash.

10. Bake in a greased, lined baking tin for 10 minutes.

11. Remove tarts from the oven. Fill centre of tarts with the pineapple jam balls.

12. Return tarts to oven to bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

13. Cool the tarts on wire rack.

Takes abit of effort, but it makes a great gift!