Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple Tarts for CNY - our First Attempt!!
After christmas, followed by new year and soon it will be chinese new year. 23 days to be exact.
It is time to start trying out some of our favourite cny goodies that we were craving for the past 1year.

We always remember how yummy it is to eat this pillow type pineapple tarts that we received from our grandmother every year during cny period. They always taste so yummy and addictive, but the waiting of the arrival of the tarts is a torture! Oink will be the one that keeps asking when will we get it or questioning if there will be any for this year!

We always thought our grandmother made them herself until last year then we realised it's actually bought from somewhere (i can't remember and donno where). Moreover, our dad prefers the chinese or local kind of pastry than the ang moh type. hahaha :)
So this sets us on to the making of our all time favourite chinese new year pineapple tarts!

The whole baking process took us really long, almost 5 hours even though we didnt have to make the pineapple fillings. Thank god we bought the pre-made fillings, if not we really dont need to sleep for that night already. The toughest part will be the rolling of pineapple jam, keeping them moist and wrapping them with the dough. Once you get the hang of it, it will be faster and easier though. Just have to find the way that suits you best.

Our pineapple tarts were all slightly cracked (therefore, please do not worry if yours cracked too) but they tasted really delicious and melts in the mouth!

From this baking experience, we finally solved the issue of inconsistent heating of our oven.
Through the past baking, we noticed that the right side of the oven bakes faster than the left and we thought we could do nothing about it. And because we got really bad experience from our ex-oven, we really thought this new one is super alot better already and we could make do with that little flaw it had. But all thanks to our dad for noticing the blowing of the fan inside! We turned the fan off and the heating became consistent through out! Yayyyyy~~!! The feel of chinese new year is early this year with our precious pineapple tarts sitting on our coffee table in the living room.

Ingredients (for about 70)

•     220g unsalted butter, at room temperature
•     1 tsp pure vanilla extract
•     2 egg yolks
•     375g plain flour
•     2 tbsp corn flour
•     1/4 tsp salt
•     50g icing sugar
•     1 egg yolk, for egg wash
•     600g pineapple paste (Bake King)

Method

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter till light in color and fluffy
2. Add in the vanilla essence to the butter and mix well
3. Add in egg yolks slowly until well combined
4. Sieve in the plain flour, corn flour, salt and icing sugar slowly into the mixture
5. Mix the mixture with hand. Use hand to knead it for a few minutes until the dough comes together.
   Do not over-knead it.
6. Wrap the dough with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30mins.
   (This will prevent the dough from spreading, and makes it easier to handle.)
7. Mean while, roll pineapple jam into small balls.
   (To prevent the ready-made jam from drying out during baking, roll the jam with wet hands. Wet your hands when they become dry after some rolling. Place the pineapple balls on a plate/tray filled with some water, just enough for the base of the balls to touch the water. This will allow the jam to soften and soak up some moisture.)
8. Remove dough from fridge.
   (To prevent dough from sticking, place a plastic sheet on the board.)
9. Roll the dough into small rounds. Flatten the rounds and use it to cover the prepared pineapple filling.
10. Brush the unbaked rolls with egg wash.
11. Bake at the middle rack in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10 to 15 minutes or till golden brown.
12. Leave to cool on baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack. Let cool before storing in air-tight containers.

Note: Please bake the rolls as soon as possible.

Recipe adapted from: Fresh from the Oven and Happy Home Baking

Success!! ◕ ‿ ◕