Pineapple Tart
Pineapple tart - one of our favorites for Chinese New Year! Pineapple, also known as "Ong Lai" (旺来) in Hokkien is a prosperous fruit to have when welcoming the new year. Ong Lai means "prosperity has come". So, who wouldn't want some at home! :) I made these cookies with slightly tangy filling and melty pastry. I mixed and matched the recipes that I found online and my mum's recipe. If I am making it all over again, I might try out a slightly less melty and more hardy pastry for the fun of it. I don't know if these are my favorite pineapple tarts yet, but since this is my first attempt, they suffice for now :)
Next, I cooked the blended pineapple in a large pot. I chose to use a large pot (instead of a pan) because I was warned by my mum that pineapple jam splatters! A taller pot works better this way. You also want a pot with a large surface area so that the jam cooks faster. In short, use the biggest and tallest pot you have!
While cooking initially, you don't have to stir it too often. Just keep an eye on the jam and give it a stir every 5 minutes or so. I was nervous about burning my jam and I stood by the pot stirring the entire time (with my Korean drama lol). It took me 2 hours to finish my jam! |
Add in sugar into the pineapple jam when the it starts reducing into a thicker paste. After adding sugar, the jam will liquefy slightly. Just keep cooking. Once the jam thickens, remember to stir it more often. The jam would change color to be darker. Stir, stir , stir, else it would burn! Once the jam is done, wait for the jam to cool down. I placed mine in the refrigerator and worked on it the day after.
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Once the jam cools down and hardens more, I made little balls of pineapple jam in a tupperware and kept it in the fridge. You could keep this for a couple of days before actually making the pineapple tarts.
I wanted to make an oval-shaped pineapple tart, and so I attempted to make little oval pineapple balls. Well, don't even bother doing that, I think you could shape the dough to be oval without needing an oval pineapple filling. Haha :) |