Pineapple tarts (Closed version)

 

 

What's your favourite Chinese New Year cookies? For me, pineapple tarts will probably be ranked as the top 3 (it's impossible to choose only one favourite lah).

We Hokkien believe that eating pineapple tarts will bring good luck in the coming year as pineapple is called "Ong Lai" in our dialect (Ong = Prosperous, Lai = come) So, Ong Lai Ong Lai, Jiak Liao Eh Lai (Eat Already Will Come). So the more you eat, the more prosperous you become. This will probably apply to our waistline as well as it's such a sinful snack. According to some survey, ONE pineapple tart is equal to THREE bowls of rice in terms of calories! Faint ~~~~~ So do go easy even though it's tough resisting them.

I started baking pineapple tarts two years ago when I couldn't find any vendor selling the way I like it - either the crust is too hard, jam too sour (eeeewww) or too much fibre (hate the fibre stuck in the teeth feeling).
When I bake pineapple tarts, I prefer to do overnight shift when the environment is peaceful (no shouts of Mummy to distract me) and cooler (heat from oven is too overbearing in daytime).
Just me, baking and the music from the radio for the night. However, as ages catches up, it becomes tiring to cross the midnight mark. Probably need days to recover. Sigh ~~~~~

As CNY 2019 was approaching, I've already declared to my family and friends that I will not be baking any CNY goodies this year as the princess just started her Primary 1 chapter. I was a little occupied with her new school schedule/timing and spring cleaning the house was taking a toil on my body. Thus I felt lethargic about baking.
However, my princess' words changed my mind completely when she commented "Mummy pineapple snack is the best in the whole wide world". Win already. It was a last minute scramble to plan everything - ingredients, containers and of course time!

Before the actual baking begins, I like to prepare the pineapple filling in advance. For convenience's sake, I bought the pre-packed pineapple jam from Phoon Huat. There are a variety of jam available (less sweet, more sour, less fibre etc) and I bought the premium grade (more sweet than sour + less fibre).
The pre-packed pineapple jam is air sealed in the package as one big, sticky and gluey block. So what I will do is to use a teaspoon to scoop a portion out, measure it by weight and roll into a ball shape. I will then keep all the pineapple jam balls in the fridge (up to a week preferably) and bring to room temperature just before baking. But be warned, it's really sticky!

Ong BIG chunk!

Getting ready

From whole block to individual balls

1kg of jam will give you about 125 pcs of pineapple balls

Recipe from Nasi Lemak Lover


Ingredients (make about 100pcs)

• 350g butter (salted)
• 100g condensed milk
• 510g plain flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 700g pineapple jam

Egg wash = 1 egg yolk + 1tsp milk


Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 165C (fan forced)
2. Cream butter and condensed milk until light.
3. Add in egg yolk one at a time and beat until well combined.
4. Mix in flour and mix until dough is soft and non-sticky.
5. 1 pineapple ball require 10g of dough with 8g of pineapple jam.
6. Measure out 10g of dough. Flatten each piece and place the pineapple jam in the middle. 
7. Bring the edges of the dough together and press lightly to seal. 
8. Roll it between your palms to shape it into a ball.
9. Apply egg wash.
10. Bake in pre-heated oven for 23mins or until golden brown.
11. Cool completely before storing.

**NOTE**

• Different ovens "behave" differently. So please adjust your oven temperature and timing accordingly. For my oven, I needed only 20 mins at 165C (Fan forced) to achieve the golden brown result.
• I placed my trays at mid rack in the oven.
• As my pineapple jam was a little more than the recipe's requirement, I measured 1.5x portion for the dough.  
• Do ensure that the pineapple balls are cooled completely before packing into containers. Else it will turn mouldy very fast.
• As this recipe do not contain any preservatives, I try to bake them as close to CNY as possible. Maximum shelf life should be about 1 week.

Ingredients needed - so simple right?

Cream butter and condensed milk until light

Add in yolk, one at a time

Beat one egg yolk completely before adding
another one

Mix in flour and mix well

Mix until the dough is soft and non-sticky

Measure out 10g of the dough

Flatten the dough

Put the jam in the middle

Bring the edges together and press lightly to seal

Use palms to roll into a ball

One completed pineapple ball!

Don't they look cute?

After egg wash

Shimmering with egg wash

After bake

Drool ~~~~~~

I baked a total of 119 balls in 4 hours

One ball was missing when I woke up the next morning!
My princess couldn't resist the temptation and ate it

It was a back-breaking 5 hours to finish the task (including washing and cleaning up). Though the simple ingredients required were readily available at most supermarket, the effort of measuring out each portion, rolling each ball into a nice round shape and applying egg wash nicely on individual balls required a lot time and patience. However, with a little music playing in the background, the task seemed easier to accomplish.

I will think that it will be more fun if you do it together with all your friends - maybe one measure dough, the other put jam, then another roll. Like a factory production! Perhaps it will cut the production time into half.

The next day, I packed the cooled pineapple balls into those auspicious looking containers and gifted them to my close family members. The sense of achievement is beyond words when you hear them rave about your bakes.

As for my princess, she could not get her hands off the pineapple ball, thus resulting in her nose-bleeding episode soon after. After that, she was only allowed one pineapple ball per day! Well, at least she still gets to eat ok....

That was all I managed to bake

Heng ah! Ong ah! Huat ah!

Hopefully I will have more time in 2020 to bake more.....

Bangkok Trip 2018 - Day 5

Departure - Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

Arrival - Singapore Changi Airport

Home Sweet Home!

After spending all our money on shopping and gaining a few pounds from all the yummy food we ate, it's time to go back to face reality.

After checking out from the lounge, we were informed that our driver has arrived. We thanked the staff at the lounge for their impeccable service showered upon us for the past few days and left in our pre-booked sedan to the airport.

The ride to the airport was smooth and comfortable until the princess refused to wake up when we reached the drop off point. After some coaxing, she woke up reluctantly and we proceeded with our check-in.

The tired "unicorn" refused to walk

After the check-in was done, I went over to the tax refund counter located at the far end of the airport. You are supposed to bring your items to show to the tax officer in order to obtain a stamp on the document. With the stamp, you can then proceed to the cashier in the transit area (after you clear immigration and customs) to claim your refund in Thai Baht.
The queue at both counters were horrendous. Do exercise a little patience.

While I was at the cashier claiming my refund, the father and daughter duo went for their breakfast at a nearby café. After which, we proceeded to our boarding gate for our flight home.
It was supposed to be my turn to sit with the princess on this leg home. However, I was down with a cold, so my dear husband agreed to take over my parenting role. Thank you ah.....



The sick Mummy staying away from them

Child Meal

My choice of meal - carrot cake
Catering out of BKK never disappoints me!

This trip has certainly changed my perspective of Bangkok city.
My impression of Bangkok was from my memories 15 years ago - laid-back, undeveloped infrastructure and polluted. Though the city has transformed tremendously over the years to a modern and cosmopolitan place now, the air pollution and massive traffic jam remains.
I must admit I'm quite impressed with the sheltered linkway between shopping malls and the efficient train services. And the food! I was totally blown away by the quality of food served.

It has certainly been a trip filled with lots of fun activities and plenty of delicious food. Though the shopping experience was a little hampered by my cold symptoms, I'm just glad I managed to accomplish what I set out to do.

Looking forward to our next BKK trip!



<--- Bangkok Trip 2018 - Day 4

 

Bangkok Trip 2018 - Day 4

Central World - Starbucks/MK Gold
Hello Kitty House Bangkok
MBK - Let's Relax
Ban Khun Mae

Our last day in BKK!

I woke up feeling lousy - the pain in my throat was indescribable, my nose couldn't stop sneezing and mucus flowed like a loosened tap. In addition, I was aching all over with a slight fever.

Despite all of the symptoms of an impending cold, I dragged myself out of the room, hoping that some fresh (or rather warm) air might do me good.

We strolled to Central World via the SkyWalk after our breakfast. Our plan was to have lunch at MK Gold Central World which was raved about by my brother. As lunch was too early (we were there at 10am), Daddy wanted to go back to Platinum Shopping Mall for more shopping while Mummy wanted to just chill and do nothing. That was when I discovered the most beautiful Starbucks outlet here.

Photo taken by Missy

Since the princess decided to follow Daddy for shopping despite his effort to dissuade her by saying he was going to see all the "boys" stuff, I decided to just chill at this impressive Starbucks with a drink. It had been so long since I chillax in a café and do some people-watching. It's actually quite therapeutic to let your mind be free and do absolutely nothing.

Check out this HUGE Starbucks at Central World

After my daydreaming session at Starbucks, I made my way slowly to MK Gold Restaurant. Now this Central World Mall was so huge until I spent about 15 minutes looking for the location. In a way, it was a blessing - I could burn some calories before my big meal.

Chanced upon this beautiful café on the way to the restaurant

Will visit in the future

MK Restaurants have many outlets located all over Thailand serving sukiyaki (aka steamboat) cuisine. MK Gold is probably a grade higher than the regular suki restaurants as it offers dim-sum and desserts on its buffet menu.

Now, it's time to let the photos do all the talking.

Let's eat!

Red ruby dessert

Can't go wrong with ice cream

Lunch was pretty good. At least the soup base was not laden with MSG and the quality of the ingredients were fresh to a certain extent. The highlight for me was the chilli served which packed a punch - it was not overly spicy yet had a "kick" to your taste bud.  
While waiting for the food to be cooked, you could also order the ala-carte buffet dim-sum dishes which were decent enough. Drinks and desserts were also free flow.
Even though I felt slightly better after my nose passageway was cleared by the satisfying lunch, I felt totally drained and my whole body ached. So I brought the princess back to the room for a nap (for both me and her) while Daddy explored the vicinity on his own.

I took some medications and rested for a good 2 hours. Despite feeling groggy, I forced myself out of bed for another highlight of this trip - Hello Kitty House Bangkok and it was only 5 minutes away from the hotel!

Friends who know me will know that I'm obsessed with this kawaii Sanrio character - Hello Kitty. I can't recall when this craze started or what started it but one thing for sure, it's here to stay for a long time! Haha.

As we approached our destination, we couldn't contain our excitement and started snapping photos at the entrance, ignoring stares from passer-by.

 

Upon seeing the line being empty, we quickly made our way into the café before it gets crowded.
The Hello Kitty House Bangkok contained three levels of cuteness overload.
On the basement was the souvenir shop selling all sorts of Hello Kitty merchandise (shopping time!) and spa (manicure service), the ground floor was the café and the second floor was also a dining area.
We were greeted by staff donning pink uniform who ushered us to the seats behind one of the gigantic Hello Kitty display.
After placing our orders, we began our "mission" - to take as many photos as possible! We had so much fun snapping away with different Hello Kitty props, display and murals and didn't even realise our food had arrived!

 

We ordered some drinks, a slice of cake and a dessert. I must say the overall taste was good and of course the presentation made it even more appetising.

After our tea session, we left our drinks at the counter and went upstairs to take more photos. When we headed up, there were two other ladies taking photos and so we ended up taking photos for each other! Hahaha. So much for teamwork ya.

The dining area on the second floor

Blessed to have you share this "pinky" experience
with me

Anybody want to have dinner with the princess?

Absolutely!

We then headed down to the basement and that was all the fun started! Shopping time!!!!! Everything looked so cute and useful. With a little bit of self-exercised control, we left the shop with a big shopping bag and a huge smile.

Attempting the hip-hop style

So happy!

As Daddy was shopping at MBK, we headed towards that direction and decided to go for a foot massage at Let's Relax (MBK 5th Floor). As the massage centre did not allow any child to enter the premise, I bought a foot massage package for the princess as well in a bid for her to enter with me and boy did she enjoy her first foot massage session. I could see her lulling to Lalaland with every strokes of the therapist.

Welcome drink

Enjoying her foot bath

So pampered!

Mother and daughter massage session

Zzzzzzzz

Thank you drink and snack

Feeling rejuvenated after the massage

We finished the massage just in time for dinner and Daddy decided that we should head back to Ban Khun Mae for another meal before heading home tomorrow. The dishes tasted so good even though we had some of the dishes days ago.

Music performance during dinner time

After dinner, we headed back to our room for some intensive packing.
The thing about taking a vacation was you never realised the sheer number of things you bought until the time you needed to pack! Then, it will be a battle of squeezing all shopping items into your luggage space. That was why I could never travel without any check-in baggage allowance on my flights.
Though we were pretty shocked by our shopping items, we managed to snug everything into our luggage. So proud of ourselves! In fact, we realised that we could have bought more - we were allowed a total of 90kg but only used up 70kg. But we have ran out of luggage space. So, I'm going to bring an empty luggage on my next trip!

Our purchases for the trip!

 

<--- Bangkok Trip 2018 - Day 3                                             Bangkok Trip 2018 - Day 5 --->