Recipe: Pineapple Tarts

In a few days time, the Chinese around the world will be celebrating the Lunar New Year. I also understand that the Koreans and Vietnamese also celebrate the lunar new year.

In Singapore, one of the most popular festive cookies is pineapple tarts. They are small, bite-size pastries filled with or topped with pineapple jam. You can find many versions of this cookie in the shop. Most people would resort to buying the tarts since it is quite tedious to bake them on your own. Nevertheless, my wife has been baking her own tarts each year. After so many years and tasting so many versions, her's is still my favorite. Why? Because it is made by her, and I have a hand in peeling the pineapple; the jam are freshly made, they are not so sweet and no preservatives!

Below is the recipe, which she learnt after attending a free cooking class when we bought our first microwave - way back in 1992!

In Hokkien, "pineapple" translates to "Ong Lai", which means "wealth comes".
(1) Fillings: 1 huge pineapple + 220 g sugar. Peel and chop pineapple into small bits, pour into a corningware (strain off juice). Mix in sugar and stir well. Microwave pineapple mixture for 8 mins on high, followed by 10 mins on medium high. Stir in betwen cooking time, uncovered.
(note: the fillings can be prepared in advance and left chilled in the fridge. I find that they taste better if allowed to mature for a few days).

(2) Pastry: Mix 300g plain flour, 1 teasp baking powder, 3 teasp milk powder, 1 teasp cream of tartar in a mix bowl. Rub butter lightly into flour with finger tips, till mixture resembles bread crumbs.

(3) Mixture: Mix 2 egg, 1 teasp vanilla essence, a dash of salt, 250g chilled butter, 4-6 drops of yellow food colouring in a bowl. Beat the ingredients lightly.

(4) Dough: Pour half of the mixture into the flour mixture and mix with both hands to form a pastry dough. Flatten the dough and cut into oval shape.

(5) Tart: Place a spoon of pineapple jam on the oval shaped pastry and fold the edges together. Insert a clove to resemble a pineapple stalk. Using a small pair of scissors, snip tiny "V" sing on the front half of the tart. Snip in rows.

(6) Bake: Place tarts on greased trays, leaving space for expansion. Brush the top with the balance mixture from step (3). Bake in a preheated oven at 180*C for 15 mins.