Nyonya Pineapple Tarts

Buttery, melt-in-mouth pineapple tarts with a sweet and tangy pineapple filling are paticularly popular in Southeast Asia, esp. Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia , during the Chinese New Year. They can be open cookies or made enclosed in round, square or rectangular shapes. It’s quite a tedious task to cook down pineapple to a thick paste, which might take 2-3 hours to prepare just 400-500 grams of pineapple filling. If you can find some ready made, use it, I won’t judge.
These tarts gained significance during Chinese New Year because in Hokkien and Cantonese, the word for pineapple, "ong lai," is a homophone for "fortune come," making the tarts a potent symbol of good luck, wealth, and prosperity.
The pineapple tart originated back in the 16th century from the Peranakans, descendants of the Chinese immigrants who went to the Malay Peninsula, particularly Malacca, and married the locals. Their culinary approach was greatly influenced not only by the local Malay cuisines but also by the Portuguese when they conquered Malacca in the 16th century.

Pastry	Pineapple Filling
160 g Unsalted butter, cubed and chilled 200 g AP flour 25 g Cornstarch A large pinch Sea salt 50 g Xylitol, or icing sugar 2 Egg yolks, from medium sized egg 2 Egg yolks+1 tsp Water for egg wash	1 kg Pineapple, weight is measured after pineapple is peeled and eyes are removed 1 Small cinnamon stick 1 Star anise 3 Cloves 120-200 g Brown sugar

Peel the pineapples and remove the eyes. Roughly chop the pineapple. Place chopped pineapples in a food processor until pineapple chunks become fine pieces of pineapple, but not completely puréed.
Transfer pineapple into a large stainless steel pot over low-medium heat. Add in spices and stir well. Cook until the juices dry up, stirring frequently to prevent the pineapple tart filling from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add in sugar and mix well. Continue to cook until juices dry up again, stirring the mixture even more frequently to prevent the pineapple mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Transfer the pineapple jam into a bowl and allow it to cool. Once completely cooled, remove the spices and discard. Then seal the container tightly and leave in the fridge overnight before use.
Divide the pineapple filling to 6 to 8 grams each. Roll each into a ball. Chill the rolled pineapple jam in the refrigerator.
Sift the flour, cornstarch, xylitol or icing sugar and salt into the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment. Add cold cubed butter to the flour mixture and beat on low speed until mixture turns sandy. Add the egg yolks into the mixture and beat on low speed until a consistent dough is formed. Add 1 teaspoon of iced cold water if the dough looks a bit dry.
Remove dough from mixing bowl and shape into a ball. Wrap in cling wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Set aside.
Divide the dough into 10-12 grams each, depending on the size of cookie cutter. Lightly flour the cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Alternatively, roll out the dough to 0.5-0.7cm thickness on a well floured surface. Then cut out the dough using a pineapple tart cookie cutter.
Place the cut out cookies on the prepared baking trays. Brush with the egg wash. Remove the pineapple filling from the fridge and place one ball in the center of the cookie. If you don’t have a pineapple cookie cutter, then flatten each dough ball, place the filling in the middle, gently push the edge of the dough to cover the pineapple paste completely. Roll into a round ball or shape into an oblong shape.
Chill the cookies for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Place the tray on a rack and let the pineapple tarts cool completely before storing in an airtight container. The cookies will stay fresh for about 1 week.

Wishing you abundance in the Year of the Horse! 新年快乐！恭喜发财!

13 comments:

Marianela Beauty Tips 16/2/26 12:34: They look so cute and delicious! Thanks for sharing.
I invite you to visit my last post. Have a good week!
Tom 16/2/26 12:35: ...a New Years treat!
Lola Martínez 16/2/26 13:31: Muy buenos todos los dulces con fruta y la piña nos encanta, me guardo estas tartitas para hacerlas. Gracias.
Éva Taylor 16/2/26 13:36: I have never seen such cookies, they look wonderful. I wonder ifnyou took dried pineapple and rehydrated it, would it cook down faster?
Angie's Recipes 16/2/26 13:48: Probably..but I have never tried it..and dried pineapple costs so much more than a fresh pineapple...150 grams dried pineapple cubes are about 3 euros here. so why bother?
My name is Erika. 16/2/26 15:05: These look amazing and I bet they tasted delicious. I never thought about cooking down pineapple to make a tart, but why not? I need to keep my eyes open if I ever see it in any market. Happy new week to you too.
DEZMOND 16/2/26 15:10: They are so pretty and cute. I am a horse in Chinese zodiac and this is the year or horse, right? Hope it doesn't kick me in the ass LOL My city is filled with Chinese people as we have a lot of their department stores, so I have learned greetings and basic words to have when I meet them. They are so happy when you greet them with nihao or tell them sie sie.
Ananka 16/2/26 15:51: These look great Angie :-D
Christine 16/2/26 16:45: yummy
Ben | Havocinthekitchen 16/2/26 16:56: They look so pretty, Angie! Those pineapple tarts are absolutely charming and colourful. Such a lovely treat.
Stefania 16/2/26 18:51: Mamma mia che Buone devono essere.
Ma come si fa a fare la dieta con queste ricette?
Brian's Home Blog 16/2/26 18:57: Those sure do look darn good, yum!
eileeninmd 16/2/26 18:59: They look tasty , a delicious treat.
Take care, enjoy your day and the week ahead.