Pineapple Tarts
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Cheryl Lu Lein Tan says she “born in the year of the tiger with a lucky star over her head and a knife in her hand”. She left her native Singapore to study in the United States and later to work here…not as a lawyer as her father had hoped but as a journalist. A desire to reconnect with her family and culture led her on a yearlong project to learn to cook the food of her childhood, commuting between homeland and her chosen land, taking “lessons” in Singaporean cooking from her aunts. A Tiger In The Kitchen was published in 2011. Cheryl shared her Grandmother’s Pineapple Tart recipe from the book, which first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.
Directions
Peel the pineapples, dig out the eyes and chop into chunks. Run the chunks through a juicer. Place the pulp in a large wok or pot with a large surface area and heat on the stove. Add the juice until the mixture has the consistency of porridge or grits; add the knotted pandan leaves and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil and keep it there for a total of three hours, stirring often. Halfway through, taste the jam, and add sugar by the half cup until it is as sweet as you desire. (Note: The amount of sugar needed will vary greatly
depending on how ripe the pineapples are.) The jam is done when the pineapple mixture has changed color from bright yellow to brownish ochre and most of the liquid has evaporated, leaving a dense but moist jam.
For the pastry:
With a mixer on low speed, combine the butter, flour and four egg yolks, mixing for 3 to 5 minutes.
Place dough in a cookie press fitted with a disc featuring a circle of diamonds. Press cookies out onto greased baking sheets. Form small balls of dough and press each one into the hollow of a cookie, forming
the base of the tart. Beat the remaining egg yolk with ½ teaspoon of water. Brush the rim of each tart generously. Take a scant teaspoon of pineapple jam (more or less, as desired) and form a ball, then press into the hollow of each tart. Pat the sides of the jam to create a small dome.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees, until golden brown. Remove cookies from sheets and cool on a rack.

| Yield: | 100 tarts |
|---|
What's Needed:
4 pineapples
at least ½ kilogram sugar (at least 2 ½ cups, depending on desired sweetness)
2 to 3 pandan leaves* knotted together
1 long cinnamon stick, broken in two
For the pastry:
375 grams salted butter (3 sticks plus 2 ½ Tablespoons) at room temperature
600 grams flour (about 4 ¾ cups)
4 egg yolks, plus 1 yolk for brushing onto pastry

Recipe brought
to you by Amy Tobin
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