New Year Goodies Box: Pineapple Tarts (open-version)
新年礼盒：凤梨酥

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We would bid farewell to the year of Dragon on Feb 9, 2013, and usher in the year of Snake thereafter. To celebrate CNY (Chinese New Year) , this month becomes the most busy month of the year. Shopping, spring cleaning, cooking and baking are taking up all my weekends. To me, new year is never complete without new year cookies.

My CNY cookies baking list is getting longer each year. I started with Pineapple tarts, then slowly added Peanut cookies, Almond cookies, Cheesy cookies, and even Kueh Makmur (a peanut-filled traditional Malay cookies). Though my favourite cookies are pineapple tarts and almond cookies, I usually bake 4 or 5 types of cookies and put in a nice goodies box during new year period. This symbolizes Four Happiness (四喜) or Five Blessings (五福) . Wondering what are Four Happiness and Five Blessings in Chinese culture? Google them...



Starting from this week, I would bake 4-5 types of new year cookies, and hopefully by end of Dragon year,  my goodies box would be filled with Four Happiness or Five Blessings !

As planned, today, I baked open-version Pineapple Tarts for the first time. Compared to closed-version pineapple tarts , open-version tarts look more adorable and pretty. As for the taste, different person may have different preference, all I could say is, they are as luscious.


PINEAPPLE TARTS (OPEN-VERSION)

INGREDIENTS

Pastry
  • 360g plain flour
  • 40g corn flour
  • 250g unsalted butter (cold)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 80g icing sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cold water

Egg wash
  • 1 egg yolk + 1 teaspoon milk




500g store-bought pineapple filling


DIRECTIONS
  1. Add flour, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl.
  2. Remove butter from fridge, cut into small pieces and add to the bowl.
  3. Gently rub-in the butter into the flour using fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs
  4. Add the egg yolks, cold water and continue to mix with hands till the pastry binds together.
  5. Wrap pastry in a sheet of plastic and chill in fridge for 10mins.
  6. Roll out the dough to about 8mm in thickness.
  7. Using pineapple tart mould to cut out the pineapple shell, and arrange onto the baking tray.
  8. Brush with the egg wash, and place the pineapple jam ball (about 1/2 teaspoon size) onto the centre of each tart shell.

     
  9. Bake at 180 degC for 18-20 minutes (take care not to over-bake, otherwise the pineapple jam may become dry)


Recipe adapted here .

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