Little Joy Factory

November is known as one of the Monsoon months here in Singapore. It rains almost everyday, sometimes with thunderstorms. I hope it won't rain today as we have Family Day at Sentosa later in the afternoon,  an event organized by my company to promote family bonding. This is the 2nd time we participated Family Day after I joined this company. The last time was in 2009, when we just returned from U.S after one year assignment in Utah.  Kids have grown up from preschoolers then to preteens now.  The years are flying by!  Whenever I look back, I do share the feeling that the days are long, but the years are short.  So, let's get the most of life and enjoy every moment with our family. Right now, I enjoy myself very much in cooking and baking for my family, especially with friends from  I Heart Cooking Clubs . This week, we are baking tarts and pies, which are a fantastic way to celebrate any occasi...

I don't remember exactly when I started baking pineapple tarts. All I know is, it becomes top in my baking list for Chinese New Year. My motivation for baking pineapple tarts is very simple: I cannot resist these rich, buttery and melt-in-the-mouth cookies. Also, I feel the pineapple tarts from commercial bakeries are usually too sweet for me. Baking them myself, I am able to control the sweetness and the texture of the pineapple tarts as well as the quality of the ingredients used.     I obtained my precious recipe from a friend in Malaysia. Her mom is good at baking all kinds of traditional festival cookies. In addition to pineapple tarts, I also learned peanut cookies from her mom. My recipes have been testified by my friend:). She says the taste is very close to her mom's version. PINEAPPLE TARTS (CLOSED- VERSION) INGREDIENTS Pastry 400g plain flour 250g butter, softened 2 egg yolks a pinch of salt (1/4 tsp, omit if butter is sa...