Pineapple Jam Tartlets

Remember what I said earlier about anytime being a good time for pineapple tarts? Well, here it is in the month of September, still some months away from angpow season. It somehow comes with some kind of celebration as the chinese term for pineapple is "ong lai" (hokkien) and "wong lai" (cantonese) which means "prosperity comes". But then, I'm the worst Chinese example when it comes to the language and its traditions. So, if I've got that definition wrong .... my bad. We're celebrating here anyway. Ramadan is a couple of days away and my brother and sis-inlaw are visiting from Florida. And she's given me a BIG hint about pineapple tarts being one of her favorite cookies. Happy to oblige! This is for you , L !

This recipe is one of the variations you can do and it's also my personal favorite. There are so many different shapes and variations from the different cultures we have here in this very colorful country.

My attempts at other variations:

Thumbprint cookies .....

and ....

the Hedgehog....I mean, Pineapple. Now, that one was

time consuming. And as you can see, my attempts were quite feeble.

So, I've given up on the pineapple shaped one and am quite happy with my pseudo mat salleh tartlets. Besides, I get to have more jam on those tartlets than this other two where you just get a mouthful of pastry.

Below is the recipe for the tart base. It's just a basic shor

tcrust pastry and I've omitted the sugar as per regular sweet shortcrust pastry. I figured the jam is sweet enough! I've filled it with the pineapple jam posted earlier. You can find the recipe here.

I have adjusted the recipe to include 1 oz of custard powder. This gives the pastry a slightly more yellow/orange/golden (call it whatever you like) color.

Also, for people who do not relish the buttery aroma too much, you can adjust the ratio of butter to 2 ozs butter and 2 ozs vegetable shortening.

INGREDIENTS (Amended measurements: 30 Jan 2011)

9 oz plain flour + 1 oz custard powder

5 oz cold butter, cubed

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg, slightly beaten (if you find the dough too dry, add 1 tbs cold water)

Note: I've amended the previous ratio of 8 oz flour : 4 oz butter to this recent measure as I've found it to be a better texture. If there were any problems using the previous measurements ... my apologies.

METHOD

In a food processor, blitz together flour, cold cubed butter and salt.

Pulse until texture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add beaten egg and quickly pulse to mix until dough comes together.

Remove dough from machine and press gently to bring it together without kneading.

Rest dough in refrigerator for at least 15mins.

Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into rounds using a cookie cutter.

I'm using aluminum tartlet 12-hole trays with holes measuring about 4cm or 1 1/2" in diameter and about 1cm or 1/2" deep.

Press rounds into holes and gently push down dough to fit mould. Pierce bottom of pastry with a fork, making 3 lines of holes.

Fill pastry cups with pineapple jam.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about 12 - 15 mins.

Remove from oven and let rest in tray for 5 mins. Cool completely on a rack before storing in an airtight container.