This is my first attempt. Have long heard that making pineapple tarts is a tedious process. It all depends on how you look at it. I'm not the "talented in cooking and baking" type of person. In fact, I'm a pretty lazy person. I hate processes that require complicated steps. So, when I look for recipes, firstly, it must have the least number of simple ingredients which are easy to get at supermarkets/shops near my place. Secondly, the recipe must not use too much time and efforts to prepare and cook/bake.
So, when I finally made up my mind, after years of deliberation, to bake a birthday cake for my first-born last December, I went to buy a KitchenAid Mixer which cost me S$779. It is really out of the ordinary for me to be spending this amount of cash on a mixer when I don't bake at all. Usually before I make a purchase, I would check on the item and then consider for a very long time (such as how frequent am I going to use it, how long will my interest last.....). The result is - I would end up not buying anything cause I'm afraid it would become a white elephant. So, I 狠下心 spent the amount and make myself so "heart-pain" that I will try very hard not to make it a white elephant. So far, so good. Since I bought it last December, I've baked a chocolate log cake for Christmas, swiss rolls, pineapple upside-down cake, black forest cake, fruit cake, kiwi fruit custard cake, chocolate cake and of course the pineapple tarts.
The recipe for the pineapple tarts is from Meyer's Baking Workshop. I was given 2 free baking workshops when I bought the KitchenAid Mixer. After 4 tries (I've also tried another recipe from my mother's neighbour), I still prefer the one from Meyer's (the recipe is by Mrs Jambu/Mdm Manomoney). As I find the original recipe's pastry a little too soft for me, I did some minor adjustments. However, here is the original one:-
PASTRY
600 g plain flour
425 g butter
½ tsp salt + 1 tbsp icing sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
METHOD
1. Cream butter with sugar and salt and vanilla essence.
2. Add egg and sieved flour mix to form dough.
3. Place dough between two sheets of clingwrap and roll out to about 1 cm thickness.
4. Cut dough with pineapple tart cutter.
5. Place pineapple jam onto pastry.
6. Bake in oven 150°C for 45 minutes in middle shelf.
7. Cool well before stacking in bottles.
Note: Can use bottle no. 8095 (50 tarts)
PINEAPPLE JAM
4 large pineapples (small type) - honey pineapples
1 large Sarawak pineapple (chopped fine)
50 g cane rock sugar
150 g fine sugar
50 g coarse sugar
¼ tsp salt
2-3 cloves + 1 small piece star anise (remove after cooking 10 minutes)
Note: Do not wash the pineapples after cutting off the skin. Put the grated pineapples on a strainer and let the juice drip by itself. Do not squeeze. Wait until the juice stops dripping. The juice can be poured into ice cube holder to make ice cubes for use with other fruit juices or simply drink them cold. It's suuuuuper sweet!
METHOD
1. Add grated and chopped pineapples, sugar and spices.
2. Cook for 3 hours until syrupy and slightly brown.
3. Cool and store in the fridge.
For the Sarawak pineapple, I grate it instead so as to achieve a finer textured jam. As for the pineapple tart cutter, at first I use the plastic one from Phoon Huat which cost one dollar plus but find it too light. Later I bought one heavy one from Ailin at Tanjong Katong Complex in Geylang Road for S$58. I invest in a more expensive one because from 2010 onwards, I'll be the pineapple tart supplier to my family and relatives.
Earlier, I mentioned that the original recipe's pastry is too soft for me, so I reduce the amount of butter. Remember to dip the cutter into some flour before cutting the dough to prevent the pastry from sticking to the cutter. The harder the pastry, the easier it will be to cut out the pastry but the butter fragrance will be reduced because it means adding more flour.
Well, I had fun making the pineapple tarts. I had made more than 200 of them and my 3 boys finished most of them and still asking for more. I can tell you nothing beats making your own pineapple jam especially when you use the honey pineapples and the 泰国水晶黄梨. My youngest boy keeps asking for the juice. You can make the jam days, or even weeks ahead. If you have a heavy bottomed stainless steel pot (the waterless cookware kind), you can simply throw in the grated pineapples and let it boil uncovered under low fire and carry on with your other household chores or even go and dance cha cha and then come back once in a while to stir it. It will not burn. Of course, when the juice is almost dried up, don't dance the cha cha anymore, stay with it and stir more frequently.
