Pineapple Tarts - Something Asian...finally

Call me the failed planner, I won't hold it against you. I had created a wonderful menu of sweet and savory (unbelievable, I know) goodies to give out as gifts to friends and family to celebrate Chinese New Year. They key words here are: "had" (it was planned, never materialized) and "menu" (having a menu does not necessarily equate the actual coming together of ingredients, because that would take...well...time). Let me whip out my virtual legal-pad on my phone and enlighten you all - I had: Pineapple Tarts, Savory Sesame Crisps, Matcha Macarons with Red Bean Paste filling, Orange Zest Fortune Cookies.

So the little voice in my head, which by the way talks like one of the curiously famous starlettes on The Hills kept saying, "Chinese New Year holiday lasts, like, totally long, its like, 10 days or whatever, and like, when I did the Christmas box it was so much work, it was a complete and utter travesty for my skin - to quote Cher from clueless". But in my defense, I DID end up making the Pineapple Tarts as well as the Matcha Macarons.

There are actually quite a lot of bloggers out there that make CNY-themed pastries to celebrate the season - the most popular recipe being Pineapple Tarts. These aren't the traditional Taiwanese type that we remember hauling back to the mid-west during our college years (not applicable to those that are in NYC or California). These are a Malay/Singaporean version that uses various spices (cloves, star of anise, cinnamon) in the pineapple jam, and a crumbly pastry that doesn't usually end up completely encasing the jam.

My recipe is a combination of what I learned from the wonderful Angie at Sea Salt with Food as well as Billy Law at A Table for Two. I absolutely loved the idea of shaping the tarts into mini pineapples with cloves on top. I must admit, for being such a crafty little lady, the spikes on the "pineapples" were quite difficult to maneuver with my clumsy kitchen scissors. Check out the other blogs, they did a great job of showing how to make them. I just took photos of the final product - are you beginning to question my baking-credibility?

Pineapple Jam

3 baby pineapples or 2 cans shredded pineapples

200 grams granulated sugar

1 clove

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

150 grams liquid glucose. this is so low fat you have no IDEA

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1. Finely shred the pineapple till fine. This took me ages...my dad managed to take our dog out for a walk and when he came home, I was still on pineapple two. What can I say, perfectionista I am.
2. Strain the pineapple till dry. Now that I think of it, I should have kept it for juice or something. So, do that - live and learn right? Save your pineapple juice, the lessons of life.
3. Simmer the pineapple in a pan till the rest of the juice dries up.
4. Add sugar and spices. Is that part of a country song perhaps?
5. Keep stirring. Focus on those arm muscles. We'll all be body builders soon.
6. When the mixture starts getting dry, add liquid glucose
7. Stirrr till the jam is thick and sticky icky icky - and sort of dry
8. Add the flour.
9. Continue to stir until the jam is almost completely dry - it should take around 10 minutes.
10. Let the jam cool off a bit and then shape into small ovals, around the shape of the first joint of your thumb. Is that even usable as a measuring device?

Pastry

180C

350 grams all purpose flour

50 grams corn flour (okay, I used corn starch, am I completely wrong? maybe. but they turned out all KINDS of fabulous)

250 grams unsalted butter at room temperature

50 grams icing sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg yolk for glazing

1. Sift together all purpose flour, corn flour and salt
2. Cream together the butter and the icing sugar with a mixer until it gets light.
3. Beat in egg yolks one at a time.
4. Add in the vanilla extract.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients. Mix everything together until it forms a dough. It should still be light and crumbly though.
6. Scoop out around a tablespoonful of dough, roll it into an oval, use your thumb to create a little well that big enough to fit the ball of pineapple jam.
7. Place the ball of jam into the well and wrap the surrounding dough around the visible part of the jam to cover it completely.
8. When you finish doing this with all of your dough and jam, you're actually ready to slip them in the oven already. BUT if you want to make them look like pineapples, click on the links above - you basically cut "v" shapes with a pair of scissors across the length of the dough and stick a clove on one of the ends!
9. When you're done decorating...or whatever, brush the rolls with the beaten egg yolk.
10. Bake for around 20 minutes or until they come out golden brown.