Chinese New Year Pineapple Tarts Recipe

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This little delicacy is commonly eaten during Chinese New Year. It is customary to visit relatives and friends during the first 15 days of Chinese New Year. So, any good host would lay out a table filled with delicate and delicious goodies that are used to welcome and of course, entertain guests. Isn't eating just one of our favourite past times?



Pineapple tarts are one of the most anticipated goodies. It is made with shortcrust pastry that simply melts in your mouth. Topped with sweet and rich pineapple jam, this combination is a perfect match that leaves you wanting more.

In Mandarin, "pineapple" has the same phonetic sound as " good luck that comes". Thus, it is believed that eating pineapple tarts during Chinese New Year will bring much good luck and sweetness in the coming year. Legit reason to stuff our faces!

The first "secret" ingredient to making delicious pineapple tarts lies in your choice of butter. Choosing the correct brand of butter will determine whether your tart will be buttery and flaky or dull and tough. After trying a couple of brands, I found that Devondale's butters are really fragrant.

The second "secret" ingredient or tip is to handle the dough as little as you can. Try to work the dough as gently as you can and in the least amount of time possible. The more you work it, the less flaky the pastry will be.

As for the pineapple jam, you can either buy pre-made jams from the Asian grocery stores or make them yourselves. Just simply combine 1 grated pineapple (about 850g) with 500g of white sugar and 2/3-cup water, and stir them over low heat until you achieve a jam consistency.

Recipe for pastry:
500g plain flour, sifted
¼ tsp. of table salt
350g cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 egg yolks, beaten
3 tbsp. cold water (or iced water)

Using your nimble fingers, rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs. The difficult part is to rub it without allowing the heat from your fingers to melt the butter.

Then, add the egg yolk and cold water into the flour-butter mixture. Using your fingers again, gently combine them into dough, but do not knead the dough.

Put them aside to rest for 10-15 minutes. Then, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1 cm thick. Cut out the dough using a cutter.

Roll the pineapple jam into a small ball (the size of a peanut M&Ms) and place them in the centre of the tart shell.

After you have filled a whole tray with them, bake them in the oven for 20 minutes at 160 degree celsius.

Lastly, enjoy and share!

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