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.....