It’s Chinese New Year already? I thought we just celebrated Christmas? Gosh, these two festive seasons are so close to each other, I can barely find time to spring clean the house! However, I managed to squeeze out some time for some festive cookies baking 😉
First up was Pineapple Tart or more appropriately, Pineapple Rolls. My favourite pineapple tarts to date are the one made by my late aunt. Well, she had since passed on and we do not get our yearly supply of Pineapple Tarts anymore 😦
Well, I have a new favourite now, it’s from my kitchen! Haha 😀
Few years back, I tried my hand at making them and ever since then there is no turning back, I have been making them every Chinese New Year. These buttery, crumbly and melt-in-your mouth pastries (even those with the strongest willpower can’t resist!) are the hardest to make and without a doubt, the most time consuming. But they are worth all the effort!
For the filling, I cheat a little. No, it’s not store bought. I made it from scratch, maybe not from scratch as in grating the whole pineapple…I used can pineapples instead. Well, I personally find that they taste the same and more importantly, it’s much easier 🙂
Well, all the pineapple rolls have been packed and ready to be shipped home. I can’t wait to spend the Lunar New Year with my family and stuff myself silly, bring out all the festive goodies! Waistline be damned!
Pineapple {Tart} Rolls (modified from Rasa Malaysia)
(yield ~ 36 pcs)
Filling
3 cans of Pineapple rings
10 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp cornstarch (mix with 1tsp of water)
1. Drained pineapple and squeeze out all the juice.
2. Put them in the food processor and give them a few blitz.
3. Add all the crushed pineapples and sugar in a saucepan and cook on medium heat. Remember to stir constantly to avoid burning!
4. Cook until most liquid has evaporated and the filling turn golden.
5. Add in cornstarch mixture to thicken the filling.
6. Let it cool.
Pastry
250g flour
225g butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp shortening (optional)
1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk (beaten, for egg wash)
1. Sieve flour, cornflour, salt and icing sugar. Set aside.
2. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add in egg yolks until well mixed.
3. Slowly beat in flour until well combined. (Add more flour if it’s too sticky to handle)
4. Wrap the dough with clingwrap and chill for 30 mins.
5. Put dough into pineapple roll pastry press, pipe dough out with thumbs into a long strip.
6. Place pineapple jam (~ 8-10 grams) at one end of the pastry, roll the pastry up enough to enclose the jam filling.
7. Line them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash.
8. Preheat oven to 175 C and bake for 20 mins or until the surface turns golden brown.
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!
missus C 
Oh my.. these look good!!! I used canned pineapples too! So the trick is cornstarch, will have to try it the next time.
I find using canned pineapples are so much easier and they still taste the same!!
Cornstarch will help to thicken the filling but got to make sure all the liquids are evaporated before adding the cornstarch. If not, the filling will still be quite ‘wet’
When do you add the shortening in?
I creamed it together with the butter.
But I’ve tried adding them (cut into small pieces) together with the flour and mixing it until fully incorporated. I feel the end product is not dissimilar.
Looks delicious! Where do you get a pineapple roll pastry press? If you don’t have one, how do you suggest to roll the dough?
Hi Brigitte, I got mine from the baking shop. If you don’t have the pastry press, you can cover the filling with the dough and shape into small logs. You can use a cookie press as well – press out the pastry and put the filling on top but this will result in a drier filling 🙂
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