Chinese New Year dawns upon us especially early this year on 31st of January. I probably made my first batch of pineapple tarts right after Christmas as I knew I would be hitting the road again during the weeks leading up to Chinese New Year. For those who had seen my pineapple tarts from the previous years, you would know that I am really driven to do something a little different every year. Last years creation was novel but not practical if I had wanted to make some 4-5 tubs to give away. I had a few ideas this year but alas, with my day jobs commitment, I only had time to work with this one.
Contrary to what most people may think, cheese and pineapple jam actually go together rather well. I had used parmesan cheese for this recipe but if I had more time, I would probably experiment with Emmental a medium hard cheese that has worked so well for Ensaymada, my favourite Philippino brioche buns. The saltiness of the cheese in the tart dough as well as the topping, balances the sweet and tart jam very well, appealing to those who normally shy away sweet treats.
Crafting this out into a miniature pineapple is much more easier than it seems and with a bit of practice, I began to get pretty quick at shaping these.
This is a melt-in-your-mouth tart dough though, to be quite honest, I am beginning to crave for something a little more crumbly and crispy in texture. I wish I have the time to check out what tasty treats my fellow blogger friends have been churning out in their kitchen for this Chinese New Year but between battling sub-zero temperatures in upstate New York and completing strategic plans in Brussels, I will have to wait until end of this week when I get home from my travels.
For those who celebrates Chinese New Year, heres wishing every one a very Happy New Year.
Please refer here for home-made Pineapple Jam.
- Tart Dough
- Unsalted butter 120g
- Parmesan cheese 25g (grated)
- Grated parmesan cheese for topping.
- All purpose flour 200g
- Milk powder 20g
- Salt 3g
- Egg ½
- Vanilla extract ¼ tsp
- Tart Dough
- Preheat oven to 160C. Cut cold butter into cubes and mix with all purpose flour, milk powder,salt and parmesan cheese until mixture resembles the appearance of bread crumbs.
- Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix briskly to combine dough to form a ball.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before working with the dough.
- Divide dough into pieces of about 10g each.
- Wrap a 7-8g ball of pineapple jam with (4).
- Carefully shape (5) into an oval shape and make incisions with a pair of manicure scissors.
- Insert a piece of clove into pineapple tart and place this carefully on a lined baking tray.
- Brush the tart with egg wash and sprinkle more grated parmesan cheese on the tart.
- Bake in the oven for 18mins. Remove from heat and cool down completely before storing in an air tight container.
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