Picture credits of chernwei, su-lin and Ju-x
With Chinese New Year (CNY) around the corner, I thought to showcase some CNY goodies which one is wont to find in abundance during this festive period.
Chinese New Year is not Chinese New Year without Pineapple Tarts. Be they open pineapple jam tarts or pineapple rolls you will find these cookies for sale everywhere and most people will have at least one container of these cookies in their house. Such is the popularity of these cookies.
Pineapple tarts are essentially shortcrust pastry cookies filled with pineapple jam. They come in various shapes (as defined by me):
- The open tart – these have a pastry base with the pineapple jam in the middle and usually, a pastry design on the top.
- The roll – these have the pineapple jam inside covered with a layer of pastry rolled around it leaving the ends open.
- The pineapple – These have the pineapple jam inside the pastry, with a design on the outside to make the cookie resemble a pineapple
- The ball – The pineapple jam is inside the pastry which is rolled into the shape of a ball and a clove is stuck into one end, so it resembles an apple (I guess)
My favourite of the lot is the open tart because a well made open pineapple tart will have thin but firm pastry and lots of jam on it. I like my pastry firm but not hard whereas some people prefer theirs crumbly. Its all a matter of taste really.
The best I’ve found are still the homemade pineapple tarts. Commercial ones are usually too sweet or don’t have enough pineapple in the jam, or their pastry is too hard or too crumbly or it just doesn’t have enough pineapple jam in it. I don’t have a recipe for pineapple tarts but you can check out the recipe from Delicious Asian Food for the tart pastry and the pineapple jam. It looks pretty simple.
Should I try it and give my family some homemade pineapple tarts this year? 
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Tis the season of the pineapple tarts! The ones featured above looked to have firm pastry (and a bit overbaked, I think). I prefer mine crumbly.
PB says: Crumbly ones tend to get everywhere so I like mine firm
Ooh, I love pineapple tarts! We made them one year when I was still in school and my task was to cook the pineapple jam bit. AIYO.
I’ve never even suggested making them at home ever since.
PB says: LOL… I never made them so my fingers are itching to try. And yet all these horror stories put me off!
I am a lover of pineapple tarts too! What a coincidence! I just posted an entry about them on Ethan’s blog and here I am reading about them on yours! I prefer the crumbly pastry
hey me too a pineapple lover was thinking if u had any recipe on how to make a good pineapple tart
@Lynn: Hi sorry i’ve never made pineapple tarts but there are a lot of good recipes online.
how to do ?
i never try
look is nice hehe!!
hi Paris. where do you usually buy your tarts from? i’m looking for the homemade type. but i don’t bake so gotta buy. any recommendations? few more days to go! argh…. please help!
Phew, ours was completely sold out every year. Most of my customers love pure creamy buttery flavored and crumbly ones.There was one year, we had orders from someone who request to have it done not with butter.
For me it was quite difficult to digest without the aroma of butter flooding inside your mouth. ::))
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