If you happens to visit Singapore during Chinese New Year, the biggest celebration of the year for Singapore Chinese people, you will notice that the pineapple tarts are sold almost everywhere, from the supermarkets, shopping malls’ shops and wet market stalls. I don’t know why these sweets are called tarts by local people, because they look very different from the traditional shaped of a tart. This "tart" comes into two different shapes. The first one is as the photo above, which the pineapple jam is stuffed inside the pastry crust. Of course, the ones sold outside look different from mine as I didn’t have a specialized tool to create the outside pattern (often strip pattern) to the crust. I also didn’t apply egg wash to them, so the color is the real color after baking.
This may not be the right time to make these tarts, however, during Lunar New Year, I often went back to Vietnam so I didn’t spend that time in Singapore. Not long ago when I came across a ready-made pineapple jam at the supermarket, I suddenly thought of trying making these tarts. However, you can choose to make the pineapple jam yourself, the method is very simple and I also included below.
The home-made baking is always better than the commercial ones. The pastry crust is softer and more fragrant due to the higher amount of butter used in making the dough. Of course the butter you use at home for your baking is better in quality than the wholesale butter used by producers. Not having a tart mould, I used the small tart tins to make these tarts into the two different shapes. I also tried the brioche tin, and I got the tarts looked like flowers. Very interesting. And I love the home-made tarts.
