Pineapple Tarts with SCS Butter

I finally start my CNY baking yesterday!

I am very happy because I am invited by SCS butter to try out and feature some of their newly created recipes for Chinese New Year using SCS Butter. I think I mention before, I grow up eating SCS butter. I love spreading my bread with SCS butter since young! My mum was using SCS when she baked CNY cookies last time, and until now, I still continue using SCS butter, especially for all my cookies during CNY!

I was given a list of recipes, both sweet and savoury. I tried out two of their recipes yesterday - the open and closed pineapple tarts. A good warm up for my upcoming baking for bake sale. :)

Coconut-Dusted Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts

This is a very special recipe that is worth trying! I never thought of coating the pineapple tarts with desiccated coconut before. It makes the pineapple tarts more fragrant!

Ingredients (I make 80pcs cos I like mini tarts)

250g SCS Salted Butter
100g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cold milk
400g plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup desiccated coconut, more as needed
650g pineapple paste

Method

1. Cream butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the egg yolk, vanilla essence, salt, baking soda and cold milk. Fold sifted flour into the mixture and mix until the dough just comes together. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
2. While the dough chills, divide the pineapple paste into balls of 8 g each. (I skip the steps of making pineapple filling on my own.)
3. Take a heaping teaspoon of dough and use hands to flatten it. Put the pineapple filling in the middle and wrap it with dough. Remove any excess dough and mold it to your preferred shape. Dust with desiccated coconut.
4. Preheat oven to 180C. Arrange the tarts on a lined baking tray and chill the cookie dough pieces for 10 mins.
5. Bake tarts for 25mins (I bake about 20 minutes) or until the dough has turned golden brown, rotate trays halfway through baking time.
6. Allow pineapple tarts to cool before storing them in airtight containers.

This is how the tarts look before they go into the oven. Pretty! The dough is quite soft to handle. So do put it back to chill if it becomes too sticky.

Tada! My pineapple tarts look great and unique after dusted with the coconut!

At the same time, I also did the second type of pineapple tarts.

Flower Pineapple Tarts

The ingredients for this recipe is really simple. It is actually an eggless recipe too.

Ingredients (I make 38pcs)

230g plain flour, sifted
50g caster sugar
90g SCS Salted Butter
35g SCS Spreadable Butter (I use all salted butter)
2 tbsp evaporated milk, more as needed
300g pineapple paste

Method

1. Combine flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and mix using your hands. Once crumbs are formed, add the evaporated milk one tablespoon at a time and knead until the dough comes together. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
2. While the dough chills, divide the pineapple paste into balls of 8 g each. (I skip the steps of making pineapple filling on my own.)
3. Dust the working surface with flour and roll out the pastry to about 0.5cm thick. Use a flower cookie cutter to cut out each piece of dough. Arrange them in small baking cups on a lined baking tray.
4. Preheat oven to 180C. Place the pineapple balls on top of each piece of cookie dough. Make a small flower using a mini flower cutter. Place on top of the pineapple balls (optional).
5. Bake tarts for 20mins or until the dough has turned golden brown, rotate trays halfway through baking time.
6. Allow pineapple tarts to cool before storing them in airtight containers.

The flower pineapple tarts before baking, so pretty right!

I love them so much! Take a piece!

Thank you SCS butter for sponsoring the butter! I will like to try out other recipes if I have the time after my CNY baking. Do check out their Facebook page for more ideas!

Golden Pineapple Balls and Winner of Giveaway

恭喜发财！万事如意！

How did you spend the 1st week of CNY celebrating? Visiting relatives and friends? Feasting and tossing yusheng? Going to River Hongbao or Sentosa Flowers?

I watch "It's A Great Great World《大世界》" with my parents who have not stepped into a cinema for the past 20 years! Our whole family also went up on the Singapore Flyer for the first time too!

Here's the Golden Pineapple Balls which I bake before CNY using the recipe from The Little Teochew. For the past few years, I have been using the creaming method for the pastry. This recipe uses the rub-in method. The result is a crispier crust. Personally, I still prefer the creaming method used in my previous recipe which gives a more melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Finally, here's what you are waiting for. The result of my first giveaway.
The winner is Edith of pReCiouS MoMentS.
Congratulations! Please email me your mailing address to smallsmallbaker@yahoo.com.sg.

Thanks to everyone who have participated!

Aspiring Bakers announcement
I have done some updates to our Aspiring Bakers Family page after the overwhelming response in Aspiring Bakers #3. We have 38 new members added and the top member (with the most entries submitted) is currently Vivian of Vivian Pang Kitchen with 11 entries. Perhaps I will do a giveaway related to Aspiring Bakers in future. So do join in for more fun! :)

Aspiring Bakers #3: Bunny Pineapple Tarts and my 1st Giveaway

It's going to be Rabbit year! After seeing Peng's Kitchen cute bunny pineapple tarts, I made a whole batch of them. However, they look more like hamsters than rabbits. Anyway, rabbits do like a bit like hamsters right? :)

I'm using the same recipe as last year's Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts. The shaping method is the same too. Just remember to snip the ears and poke the eyes with a skewer.

These are the bunnies before baking. I learn from Cook.Bake.Love's method of glazing pineapple tarts. Add a few drops of water to 1 egg yolk. Bake in the oven for about 6 minutes first, remove from oven to apply egg wash, then put back to oven and continue to bake until done.

I am submitting this cookie to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favourite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011), hosted by j3ss kitch3n.

Announcement!

Today, my page counter finally hits the 500,000 mark. That's half a million and I take more than 3 years to reach this. My first post was written on 21 June 2007. To me, it's a very hard-to-remember date and I have never celebrated any blog anniversary because I never remember this date.

I think it is time to shown some appreciation to all my readers who have been following me all the while, leaving wonderful comments and encouragement. I know some readers have been with me, reading silently. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Although it's a virtual world and we have never met before, blogging gives me the satisfaction that real life doesn't and makes baking more fun.

To thank everyone, here's my first blog giveaway.

Yummy Cheesecake 美味芝士蛋糕 which contains 38 baked cheesecakes recipes, written in both English and Chinese.

1. Baked Strawberry Cheesecake
2. Bananarama Cheesecake
3. Blueberry Cheesecake
4. Apple Pie Cheesecake
5. Mango Macadamia Cheesecake
6. Jackfruit Cheesecake
7. Pineapple Cheesecake
8. Apricot Cheesecake
9. Orange Sour Cream Topped Cheesecake
10. Orange and Chocolate Chips Cheesecake
11. Baked Lime Cheesecake
12. Citrus Cheesecake
13. Lemon Curd Cheesecake
14. Double Cheesy Cheesecake
15. Cookie and Cream Cheesecake
16. Chocolate Feather-Patterned Cheesecake
17. Black and White Cheesecake
18. Almond Crumble Cheesecake
19. Creamy Sweet Corn Cheesecake
20. Yam Cheesecake
21. Velvety Honey Cheesecake
22. Rum and Raisin Cheesecake
23. Bailey Coffee Cheesecake
24. Caramel Cheesecake
25. Creamy Coconut Cheesecake
26. Orange Cheese Dome
27. Cream Cheese and Mixed Fruit Butter Cake
28. Prune Cheese Pound Cake
29. Carrot Cheesecake
30. Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake
31. Tiramisu Torte
32. Cream Cheese Chiffon Cake
33. Pandan Cheese Chiffon Cake
34. Honey Cheese Swiss Roll
35. Mocha Light Cheesecake
36. Cotton Cheesecake
37. Poppy Seeds Cheese Cup Cakes
38. Chocolate Chips Cheesecake Muffins

I do not own this book. I bought this book specially for the giveaway and there is only 1 copy. After flipping it through, I found that I have actually tried Mocha Light Cheesecake from this book before. I must have copied it down when browsing at the bookstore. So the lucky winner of this book, remember to share the recipes with me. :)

To take part in this giveaway, just leave a comment telling me which cheesecake(s) you will like to try baking from this book if you win and why. Winner will be picked using a random number generator.

The closing date is: 4 Feb 2011 before 12 midnight.

This is open to everyone who has a Singapore or Malaysia mailing address.

Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts

I believe that most people love pineapple tarts. I'm one exceptional case. I don't eat pineapple tarts and even when I walk past bakeries and they try to offer me one, I reject. That is to say, I have actually no idea of what a good pineapple tart taste like and what a bad pineapple tart taste like too!


However I still try baking some last year and this year because people around me loves it. I didn't find time to search for a new recipe so I stick to the old one I used last year. I added in a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Trust me, I have made 3 batches and they all turn out really good (if you take the words from one who doesn't eat pineapple tarts at all, hehe). It's a fail-proof recipe.

Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts

Ingredients (*Pastry only)
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
**500g pineapple paste, roll into little balls in advance

Method
1. Sieve plain flour, corn flour, salt and icing sugar into a medium bowl.
2. Beat butter in a mixer until it turns light in color and fluffy. Add in pure vanilla extract, mix well.
3. Add in egg yolks slowly until well combined.
4. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Use your hand to knead it for a few minutes until the dough comes together. Do not over-knead it.
5. Roll the dough into small rounds. Flatten the rounds and use it to cover the prepared filling. Brush the unbaked rolls with egg wash.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 10 to 15 minutes or till golden brown.

** I use another brand of pineapple paste this year from Lee Bee Enterprise Co (Blk 507 Jurong West St 52 #01-152). Compared to last year's Bake King pineapple paste, Lee Bee's one is more sourish. I would say it's just as good. Just a matter of preference whether you like sweet or sour ones.

Recipe adapted from: Fresh from the Oven (*refer here for pineapple filling recipes too)


You know what, I sold 1 of my batches to my friend. I'm quite surprised that she is willing to order some from me even though she has not tasted my pineapple tarts before. I hope she and her family likes it.

Before CNY ends

I'm squeezing everything in this post just before the CNY ends. :)

I made another batch of pineapple tarts to use up the remaining pineapple paste. Initially, I wanted to use HHB's recipe. But I received a few recommendations on Mandy's recipe (Fresh from the Oven) too . I compare the 2 recipes and find that they are very similar. The difference is Mandy's recipe replaced some flour with cornstarch and added some icing sugar. So in the end, I decided to use Mandy's one. Sorry HHB! The pineapple tarts taste great! It simply melts in the mouth and the fillings inside remain very soft and moist. Rolling the jam into balls with wet hands really helps (click here for more tips from HHB). So those who are interested, you can try this next year!


You see, the above recipe used up 3 egg yolks, so with the remaining 3 egg whites, I made the Angel Food Cake from Baking Fiends. It was done pretty fast cos there were only 3 ingredients. I wasn't expecting much, I had enough failures in making chiffon cakes. I just constantly repeating to myself "stiff and glossy... stiff and glossy... stiff and glossy" when beating the egg whites. Although the result wasn't perfect, I was quite relieved to see that it did not sink at the top after cooling down.


Lastly, in order to use up the toblerone chocolate that is expiring soon, I made the Toblerone Ice Cream again. Send this to bakers all over the world using my unique stamp. :)

Pineapple Tarts

Baked these Sunny Pineapple Tarts over last weekend. Don't you think they look like little sunflowers?


It's my first time baking the pineapple tarts. As you know I have been searching for a good pineapple tarts recipe. I finally decided to use Florence's recipe. I thought baking the tarts first and adding the pineapple fillings later is a clever way of preventing the jam from becoming too hard and dry, though it takes some extra effort to change the temperature and taking the tray in and out. The dough is easy to handle but I have difficulty making really deep and clear indentations using the mold. The problem becomes worse after putting into the oven. The tarts puff up and the markings become even fader!


Although there is a bit of disappointment cos the pineapple tarts are not that nice looking, the taste didn't disappoint me. It doesn't really melt-in-the-mouth, but it is soft and crumbly when you put them in your mouth. The Bake King pineapple paste is quite good too. It is sweet but not that sweet (compared to some pineapple tarts that I tasted before). Not sour, good for me, cos I don't like sour ones. But it is a bit dry after baking.


I still have extra pineapple paste left. Shall make more pineapple tarts after the new year, trying out another new recipe, and maybe doing the wrapped types.

Wish everyone an Ox-picious Chinese New Year!

Looking for pineapple tarts recipe 2

It's 2009! Hope it will be a great year for everyone and a better year for Singapore!

Continued from my post Looking for pineapple tarts recipe, I did a little research by searching for various blogs that posted recipes of the Pineapple Tarts. Never too early to start baking for CNY. It's only less than a month away and many people have already started baking cookies and testing for their perfect recipes. I'm only focusing on Pineapple Tarts (open type). There are just too many recipes around and I don't want to be too carried away. Hope you will find this useful! ;)

Here are a few selected ones that interests me.

Florence's Pineapple Tarts - she baked the tart shell and top up the filling later to prevent the jam from becoming too hard and dry. I might want to try this.

Delicious Asian Food Pineapple Tart Pastry - from mother-in-law’s recipe and have a nice buttery smell pastry which melts in the mouth. I might want to try this.

Aunty Yochana's Lattice Pineapple Tarts - she prefers this recipe than the other one.
Aunty Yochana's Pineapple Tart Milk Cookies - pastry doesn't use any eggs at all.

Fresh from the Oven Pineapple Rolls/Tarts - two types of pineapple fillings here. One is by grating the pineapple from scratch, the other uses canned crushed pineapple.

Little Corner of Mine Pineapple Tarts - uses cornflour/cornstarch to make the pastry melt-in-the-mouth.

Lily's Pineapple Tarts - used canned pineapples

My Kitchen Snippets Pineapple Tarts
Jthorge's Kitchen Pineapple tarts
Peng's Kitchen Pineapple Tarts
Thelazychef Pineapple Tarts
Wokkingmum's Pineapple Tarts
My Baking & Cooking Passion Pineapple Tarts

And more recipes from Kitchen Capers.

If you need videos, check Oi Lin's blog who authors 3 cookbooks. She has many great tips for making the pineapple tarts.

For suggestions from my readers, check out the comments in my previous post:
Looking for pineapple tarts recipe

Other tips:
1. Store-bought pineapple jam - Sun Lik in Seah St or Bake King brand (Phoon Huat not recommended)

2. Use SCS, Lurpak unsalted butter or canned Golden Churn, if you can afford it.

3. Open tarts pastry will not melt in the mouth so much as those wrapped pineapple tarts. Rub-in method helps to achieve the melt in the mouth effect.

4. Place the tray in the middle rack.

If you have tried any of the above recipes, feel free to leave a comment here to let us know the results. :)

Looking for pineapple tarts recipe

I'm looking for a good pineapple tarts recipe. It must be tested and proven to be really really good. Can be your own recipe if you are willing to share it in my blog. Or let me know the link if it comes from a website or a blog. :)

I'm also looking for a good pineapple paste cos I don't think I want to make the paste myself. ;P Anyone knows where or which shop sells the best pineapple paste?

Hehe... thanks!