Wow, tomorrow's Chinese New Year already. Talk about time flying past. I still recall last year's festivities - ah, all the good food, company and photo taking.
Anyway, I wanted to make a few CNY goodies but didn't have time so I stuck to only one choice: Pineapple tarts. I love pineapple tarts and the crumbly pastry always gets to me. It's so addictive! I have always wanted to make my own and this time, I stood up to the challenge.
I even made my own pineapple jam!:
It's no mean feat, let me tell you that. Cutting whole pineapples, grating them and then standing by the stove, letting it cook and dry. I think it took me about 1 and a half hours to get my nice and sticky pineapple jam. Love the result though. Tastes much better than store bought ones. Or maybe i'm just bias. But I did add a stick of cinnamon and star anise - and it tasted darn good.
Now I know why pineapple tarts always cost so much. It's labourious! First you make the jam, then you make the pastry. After which, you still have to cut out the dough and scoop even amounts of jam and so on... Here's a snapshot that pretty much shows you how it's done:
The recipe I used came from The Skinny Epicurean. I guess I was totally inspired by her pineapple tart post. The recipe is simple enough, though I would def. use salted butter next time. The pastry wasn't as tasty as I would have preferred.
Maybe I'll try making thise again next year! :)
Gong Xi Fa Cai ya'll!
Hi Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding me. I don't bake or cook but usu. just help around. Hope I get to taste your culinery skills one day.
My blog is at http://www.8wire.org though my flickr are more updated. Hee.
Hey chin, ya i was amazed at the photos you had of the love letters and tarts you guys made. i've always wondered how love letters were made! and now i know. love the photos. yummy.
ReplyDeleteHi! I made pineapple tarts too! Cos i just loveee them! Anyway, just a little tip, i see that you've quite a bit of pineapple juice in the pot. Try squeezing the grated pineapple till its very dry, then slowly cook it.
ReplyDeleteYou can keep the juice for other stuff... like making cocktail, marinating meats, drinking on its own...
But getting rid of the juice, the cooking process is cut down by quite a bit!
Well, just a tiny opinion... you can try it next year.
Indeed, making your own jam is tiring, but i too, love my home made jam! =) Taste much better!!!
try this pastry/dough recipe:
ReplyDelete2pcs buttercup
6 egg yolks
2 egg white
vanilla essence (i usually put about 1 cap-full)
self-raising flour (brand: MFM / Blue Key)
- use mixer to beat butter till fluffy; add in egg yolks and egg white (bit by bit); add in vanilla essence
- switch off mixer; pour flour (little by little) and knead with hand until the dough do not stick on to your hand (make sure not to over-put too much flour either)
- can make approximately 240pcs of pastry
*1 butter uses 3 egg yolks + 1 egg white (the lesser the egg white, the softer the pastry would be - however, it also depends on the amount of flour you put in)
*flour quantity is according to your own adjustment; 2 butter takes up about almost 3/4 box of flour
thanks for trying the recipe and giving feedback. If you prefer, you can also increase the salt to 1 tsp instead.
ReplyDeleteWoa, you like the same thing as I do ^^
ReplyDeleteI love makin' the pineapple jam itself and have made it around 4 times =) I put cinnamon, cloves, and kaffir lime leaves into the mixture. It was darrn gOOd too!
I made the jam for a different kind of pineapple cookie, called Nastar. You might have heard it as it's very popular in you neighbour country, Indonesia.
Hi Cheryl! Your pineapple jam looks delish! I have had it for the first time on the Maledives and loved it. I've never actually tried buying it in Germany, because I always thought it might destroy the wonderful memories of our vacation if the one bought here wasn't as tasty...but now I think I'll give it a shot myself - thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDelete