Which Pineapple Tarts Would You Like? (百變鳳梨酥)

It all started when my sister was living in Melbourne and she sent me a box of Taiwanese Pineapple cookies (鳳梨酥).  It was in cube shape wrapped with golden paper.  The pastry is buttery and the filling is moist and sweet.  I restricted myself to eat one a day until they were all gone.  I can never find any pineapple cookies as good as those from where I live.  Then when I got marry, my mother-in-law brought some homemade pineapple tarts to serve our guests for the wedding.  I was surprised that the taste of the pineapple tarts (黃梨撻) were very similar to the Taiwanese's.  Later I found out that both Taiwanese and Malaysian make them for the Chinese New Year.  For those Fujianese living there,  pineapple sounds similar to prosperity (旺利) so that it is widely use for decoration as well as for celebration food.

Over the years, I have been searching for the best recipe for those cookies and I have found many interesting cooking method. My mother-in-law would grate the pineapple and cooked it till dry and glossy and one of my friend taught me a short-cut way to put the pineapple into the juicer, take the blended fruit (not the juice) and cooked as above.  However, I still think that pineapple cookies or tarts are hard to make especially if you're using homemade jam.  If the jam is too wet or burnt, then they won't be good.  It's also hard to keep them fresh as days old one will lost its flavour and started to go soggy.  Therefore, freshly baked one is the best!  And the store brought jam is easier to handle if you want me to tell you the truth! These cookies are filled with store brought jam brought from my mother-in-law.  I couldn't decide which shape I'm going to make so I make all the shape I've known.  They are all made from the same dough, same jam only with different shapes but I love them all. Which one would you like?

I'm going to post some tradition sweet treat for the Chinese New Year.  You are welcome to celebrate the event by sending a picture of your Chinese New Year cooking (sweet or savoury) with/without a link to veronicaskitchen@facebook.com. Then I will post all on 23rd January (Australian time). Blogger and non-blogger are both welcome.  Let's celebrate our biggest festival together!    

The pastry recipe is adopted from Forbidden Garden, please click here for her Chinese blog.

Pineapple Tarts (Cookies)
(make 44)

200g butter, soften
40g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
300g plain flour
25g custard flour
1/2 tsp salt
300g pineapple jam (I use store brought)

Method:

1. Beat butter and sugar until pale, then add egg yolk and mix well.
2. Then add flour, custard powder, salt and mix into a smooth dough.  Rest 20 minutes.
3. Divide jam into balls about 10g each and divide dough into 15g each.  
4. Flatten the dough into round and fill with jam.  Make into apple-shape with a clove on top, cube shape, pineapple shape or if you have the moulds, shape into flower and coil shape.  Brush with egg for the apple and pineapple shaped one before baking.
5. Bake about 20 minutes at 180c or until golden brown.