Pineapple is one of the favourite fruits in my house . I often make Pineapple Preserve and Pineapple Fried Rice at home and was browsing for some new dish with Pineapple , when I came across this recipe of Pineapple Jam Tart on Malaysianfood.net . The Pineapple Jam tarts are nothing but small bite size pastries topped with Pineapple jam. The pastry consist of large proportion of butter and egg yolk , giving it a rich buttery and tender melt-in-the-mouth texture.The tarts look very appealing and taste awesome.
This Pineapple Jam tarts are considered a "festive Cookie" and usually consumed during Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali periods in Singapore and Malaysia as Pineapples are considered as a sign of prosperity .The pineapple tarts are considered to have its origin in Malaysian cuisine. The recipe is little time consuming specially the part involving scooping of Pineapple jam centrally over the small pastries and then decorating it with a cris-cross but end results are sweet and worth the efforts.
Ingredients for Pineapple Jam:
- 2 cups fresh Pineapple , peeled, cored and shredded
- Sugar -1 cup
- Cinnamon stick -2 inch
- Star anise-1
- Pineapple essence- few drops (optional)
Ingredients for Pastry:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup self raising flour
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 10 tbsp butter
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 tsp salt
Method to prepare Pineapple Jam:
- In a saucepan add shredded Pineapple, Sugar, Cinnamon stick and Star Anise . Mix it and bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring frequently . Cook for 5-7 minutes on until the mixture attains a Jam like consistency. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Method for making the pastry:
- In a large bowl sieve together all purpose flour, self raising flour and salt. Rub the butter into the sifted flour with fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs , now add the beaten egg and water to the dough mixture.
2. Gently bind the ingredients together. do not knead much. Roughly shape the dough to a ball and wrap in a plastic sheet and refrigerate at least for 4 hrs or overnight.
3. Roll out the dough between 2 plastic sheets to 1/4 inch thickness.
4. Using a cookie cutter cut into rounds. Gather the scrape and roll out again and repeat the same procedure. The dough will yield approximately 20-24 rounds of 2 inch . Place the rounds on a lightly greased baking sheet. Put a spoonful of Pineapple jam at the center of each round.
5. Cut 2 thin strips of pastry and cross over the jam. Now brush the tops of the pastry with beaten egg.
6. In a preheated 400 F oven , bake the tarts for about 20 minutes until they turn light golden brown in colour. I have baked the tarts using a convection Microwave at 200 degree Celsius for 20-25 minutes.
7. Allow to cool on a baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Enjoy the amazing melt in mouth tarts! To retain the freshness, store the tarts in an airtight container on cooling completely .
If you are looking out for more Cookie recipes you may check my Egg less oatmeal Cookies
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