Happy New Year everyone!
Can't believe we will be celebrating the Lunar New Year in approximately a month time! This will be our second year celebrating the Lunar New Year in Melbourne and that means we have live here for a year already! How time flies!
Since I was pregger and busy with our move last year, I did not make any cookies/goodies for CNY so decided I should make some this year. Not sure if any of my friends will come
'pai-nien' at our place since we do not get any public holidays here in Melbourne! Good thing is, this year, the first day of CNY falls on a Sunday which make it very convenient if we have friends visiting or we go for visiting. :)
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Normally I will bake pineapple tarts for this occasion as the Hokkiens associate pineapple as 'ONG' meaning prosperity. Therefore, most of them like to have pineapple tarts for CNY. I made some of these floral pineapple tarts the previous year and thought I should make them again as I really like their dainty look but this time improvised on their texture.
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This round, I adapted another
recipe using cornflour for the pastry which gave a better texture and has a more crumbly feel so it sort of melt in the mouth. :D
I prefer the open face type as I like having my pineapple jam caramelised during the baking process as it gave a really yummy aroma to the tarts.
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Pineapple Jam
Ingredients
- 2 medium Pineapple (try to get those which are not too ripe)
- Sugar to taste (I used a mix of raw sugar and caster sugar)
- 1-2 sticks Cinnamon bark
- 3-5 Cloves
- ½ Lemon (juice only)
- Yellow food coloring (optional)
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Methods
- Chopped the flesh finely with a clever (sieve away the extra juice with a colander but do not squeeze) and use a blender to chop the core or you can use a grater to do the job but from experience, grated pineapple will be less juicy as the grating process tends to extract the juice out more.
- When you are done chopping, transfers the chopped pineapple to a big non stick stock pot or frying pan and fry with the cinnamon and cloves on medium fire stirring occasionally. This process will take about 1 hour +/-
- Add in the sugar and taste (I prefer mine to be not too sweet so I add a table spoon at a time) till you achieve your ideal sweetness. Some pineapples are sweeter than others so you use your taste buds to judge.
- Once it starts to caramelise, you squeeze in the lemon juice and fry till it is really dry and sticky. Leave it to cool and you can store in the fridge or freezer for future use. The lemon juice actually acts as a preservative so your jam would not get mouldy after baking.
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The Pastry
Ingredients
- 400 gm Plain flour
- 50 gm Corn flour
- ½ tsp Salt
- 280 gm Butter (cold and cubed - do not let it get soften)
- 3 Egg yolks
- 3 tbsp Icy cold water
- 6 tbsp Icing sugar
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 Egg yolk + 1/2 tsp Milk for glazing
Methods
- Sift the flours, icing sugar and salt in a big mixing bowl.
- Using the end of a fork, rub in butter cubes into the flour mixture until it becomes fine bread crumbs. For this process you need to be very patient as any heat will warm the butter. Should you need to, use your finger tips only to help coat the butter with flour to make them into fine crumbs. Never ever use your palm as our palms will transfer the heat and melt the butter.
- In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the cold water and vanilla extract. Pour into the crumbs mixture and mix them with your finger tips only. Slowly until it forms a dough. Do not knead. Stop when it formed into a dough.
- Wrap it up with a clingy wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 10 mins before use.
- On a floured surface, roll out a small chunk (keep the rest chilled in the fridge so it won't melt while you work) to desired thickness (around 5mm) and press with a flower cookie cutter. I placed a mini cupcake liner into the tablespoon measuring spoon to get the nice curved up flower shape.
- Arrange all the cupped pastry neatly on a baking tray, placed the pre-rolled pineapple jam and placed onto the pastry before glazing with egg yolk mixture on the entire surface (including the jam).
- Baked in a pre-heated oven of 160°C for 18-20 minutes or till surface turned golden brown (turn the tray around a few minute before you take them out to ensure even browning).
- Cool on the tray before removing to cool on the rack. Store in an air tight container when it is completely cooled. It is best to consume within 2 weeks if you are living in a tropical country. I normally keep them in the fridge if not consumed after a week but weather in Melbourne is dry so it should be fine to be kept in room temperature longer. Anyway, how often can these crumbly tarts stay more than a few days on the counter????!!! :P
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This is the cutter I used to cut the pastry...
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