Project Pineapple Tarts

HAPPY CNY!!! :) Have you had your daily/ hourly dose of pineapple tarts? 

Pineapple Tarts made by yours truly

For those who don't know what Pineapple Tarts are you're missing out big time! Pineapple tarts are basically a pineapple jam + a rich in butter & eggs pastry. According to my mum, the ideal pineapple tart pastry should melt in your mouth; it should be moist, crumbly and rich. The pineapple jam shouldn't be too sweet and should contain some fibres from the pineapples. Frankly, I'm an anomaly and prefer my pineapple tart pastry to be firm, slightly crunchy, almost like those sweet pastry crust used for tarts.

In a quest to make the ideal pineapple tart, I googled my way through and settled for the recipe given by Little Teochew, which garnered many favourable reviews. You can find her recipe here: thelittleteochew

Pineapple tarts made using Little Teochew's recipe.

As Leroy had generously given me pineapple jam which his company, United Bakery Supplies, distributes, I need not painstakingly make my own :):):) The pineapple jam originates from Thailand and isn't too sweet; it has the right balance of tanginess and I liked its texture. As the level of sweetness was alright for me, I used the paste straight out of the packet without modifying anything but you could always adjust the paste to your liking.

The recipe was straight forward and easy to follow. I thought it yield pretty good tarts! The tarts were crumbly and had this melt-in-your-mouth effect though some of my colleagues thought they were kinda dry. Bro, Dad and Jun (my neighbor at work) loved the tarts, so much so it was gone within 2 days! 

Crumbly Tarts.

After receiving mix reviews from my colleagues, I decided to try out another recipe. I adapted the recipe from Fightingfiresbakingbuns. This recipe uses milk powder which gives a softer, creamy texture. I've tried my colleagues' wife's pineapple tarts and they tasted soooo good! He didn't give me the exact recipe but he did reveal the secret ingredient- milk powder. 

Tarts from colleague's wife

The tarts I tried are super awesome! It's soft, moist and crumbles perfectly in your mouth. Apparently, she uses Phoon Huat's pineapple paste and modifies it to suit her taste but I found it kinda sweet for my liking.

Tarts made using fightingfiresbakingbuns reipce

I halved the recipe and replaced about 25g of flour with cornflour. The dough this time round was softer and really crumbly, you have to work really fast in order to wrap your fillings nicely. Judging from the over browned top, I would recommend adding 1 or 2 teaspoons of water to the egg yolk wash. Verdict? Dad preferred the tarts these time round as its softer and more crumbly, Bro's indifferent and I'm just confused lol. To me, both tarts tasted the same and would stick to LittleTeochew's recipe (maybe adding a tinge of milk powder) as its easier to make and doesn't require a mixer.

LE Cafe Confectionary Pineapple Tarts

Finally, I've managed to try the famous LE Cafe Confectionary Golf ball tarts, courtesy of Sis's tutee's mum. The tarts definitely live up to its name as these were the largest tarts I've ever seen. Size aside, I love the texture of the pastry: not too crumbly yet moist and tender. The ratio of pastry to filling is ideal for those who like pineapple jam but I prefer more pastry than filling thus the chubby cheeks and flabby thighs. I like the texture of the pineapple jam, unfortunately it's alittle too sour for me.