Bunny Pineapple Tarts

I promised SM I'll bake her some pineapple tarts after CNY.  Decided to give this recipe a try again, praying that they won't puff up as much.  I remember reading somewhere that to prevent the cookie dough from spreading too much in the oven, the trick is to chill the dough first.  So when I did this batch, I chilled the dough (wrapped and shaped, ready to be baked) in the fridge and only took it out when the oven is ready.  They turned out well, slightly puffed but at least the imprint is still pretty obvious.  I'm contented :-)

For melt in the mouth recipes, the success factor is how you handle the dough. Be careful not to overwork the dough. I used a fork to mash the butter into the flour instead of using my fingers. And I mixed in all the wet ingredients together before pouring into the flour mixture so that I really minimise "kneading" the dough.

Decided to do away with egg wash since they always turned out patchy.  I guess I'm not using the correct pastry brush.

Can you see the flakey crust?  Oh, I just love this recipe!  But be warned, this recipe comes with a high percentage of butter over flour so watch out for those calories when you pop one into your mouth.

SM took one while she was in the car, took a quick bite when the traffic light turned red, and she loves it.  Her son NQ was so amazed as he has never seen pineapple tarts in this form.  He was showing off to his neighbours that his friend's (my son) mother made these.  I owe EO (my best pal's sister) some pineapple tarts so passed her a bottle and received positive feedback from her too :-)

I'm submitting this to Aspiring Bakers # 5: Fruity March (March 2011) hosted by jess of bakericious.

Bunny Pineapple Tarts

Ingredients

(A)

340g Plain Flour

1 tbsp Icing sugar

1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

(B)

250g Cold butter, cut into cubes

(C)

1 Egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence/Martell

25ml ice cold water

*mix together

(D)

Pineapple fillings (I used store bought but improvised it)

Method

1. Lightly beat egg yolk with brandy and ice water.
2. Sieve flour and icing sugar into mixing bowl. Stir in salt and blend well.
3. Using a fork, cut in butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
4. Add egg yolk and ice water mixture into flour and roughly work it into a ball. Do not overwork the dough.
5. Divide dough into 3 equal portions, place each portion in a plastic bag and flatten it slightly. Chill in fridge for at least 30 mins.
6. Remove 1 portion of dough from fridge and divide dough into small balls.
7. Wrap pineapple paste with dough and shape into rounds.
8. Lightly flour the surface of the dough and press into a mould of your choice, flatten and dislodge the dough.
9. Chill the dough while you preheat the oven. (I actually kept mine in the fridge for a few hours)
10. Place tarts onto baking tray lined with baking sheet.
11. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 170°C and continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until golden. Turn tarts out to cool on a wire rack before storing in air-tight containers.