Something you need to know about me is that I get really into the books I read. Like, in Lord of The Rings I want to know the tunes of the songs they’re singing. I kick ass at Harry Potter trivia. I remember exact lines from romance novels that I’ve read only once, and I even remember where on the page they are located spatially. So, I recently read the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan, and the whole time I kept wanting to taste the foods in the books. Because they have these crazy lavish dinners at a manor/estate made by private chefs, and there’s also many times the characters go out to dinner in Singapore, or London, or Hong Kong. In particular, I really wanted to know what the famed pineapple tarts of Tyersall Park WERE.It turns out they’re a traditional Chinese dessert, and are often made specifically for Chinese New Year celebrations. I obviously don’t have a family recipe that’s been passed on to me, so I used the ol’ Interwebs to find something I could use. The recipe I settled on is by The Burning Kitchen. Also, they’re not really “tarts” in terms of what I usually think of when I hear that word. They’re more like pastry-ish cookies with balls of pineapple “jam” on top. So first I had to make the jam!The recipe calls for 3-5 pineapples. Which is kind of an investment for something you’ve never made before. BUT a local independent grocer coincidentally had a CRAZY loss-leader sale on pineapples right when I decided it was time to make these things, and they were $0.97 each. So I got five pineapples for less than $5. I cut them all down (which is exhausting) and then I chopped them up finely as the recipe recommended. I have to say that in future, I might use a blender/food processor instead, because I felt like the end product could have been more cohesive, especially when I compare to the photos on the Goog. Anyway, I put it all in a giant pot and simmered it for more than hour with cinnamon and star anise and cloves.That had to sit overnight in the fridge after it was done, and then the next day I made the pastry and did the baking. I’m not like, a classically trained pastry chef or anything, but the cookie-ish base seemed like a strange combo of pastry and a cookie. Like, you had flour and salt and a LITTLE bit of icing sugar, and then you cut cold butter into it, but THEN you added two egg yolks and 2/3 of an egg white. So I wasn’t entirely convinced that this was going to taste very good, but I stuck with it and didn’t try to mess with the original until I’d had one go at it as is. Another weird thing: the egg wash is ONLY yolks. I’ve never seen this before – is this for any particular reason? Do any of you know?!There’s actually a special cookie cutter that is designed just for these pineapple tarts. Which I didn’t have. But I might order it, because I think I’m going to make these again and these look preeetttyyy dumpy. The actual cookie cutter makes this beautiful flower shape and detailed imprints, and it also has a built-in thing that creates a nice little indent in the center for your ball of jam to rest. I pushed down with my fingers, but in retrospect I think I could’ve made the wells deeper. Live and learn! So you bake them for five minutes alone before adding the jam balls, so I rolled the balls while they were in the oven. Look at the beautiful golden colour the pineapples got through the cooking process! I had a hard time resisting just eating spoonfuls of the jam while I was rolling the balls, it’s sooo good. And it smells amazing. It’s like sunshine became a food.There’s not much visual difference between the part-way cooking point and the final stage, but below are the fully baked tarts! I ended up making 36 of them, and they’re so refreshing to eat. The pastry is not very sweet at all, which goes really well with the sweetness of the jam (you add 2 cups of sugar as a preservative, partway through the jam process). I think I timed the jam correctly as well, because the recipe warns of overcooking and making the balls dry, since you have to bake them again with the pastry. These were lovely and moist! I’m definitely going to make them again in the future, although I’ll probably wait until the pineapples are on sale again because $25+ would be a bit pricey.
Have you ever made a dessert from a different type of cuisine? I’d never made any Asian desserts before, although I’ve eaten a lot of them! I’m open to recipe recommendations!
2 Comments
Arel
August 22, 2020 / 9:46 pm
Hello! This sounds amazing!! Do you have a recipe with exact quantities you would be willing to share please? Thanks!
Megan Author
October 24, 2020 / 7:28 pm
I linked the recipe in the post, so if you go up to the top you’ll be able to click the link to find it! 🙂
Something you need to know about me is that I get really into the books I read. Like, in Lord of The Rings I want to know the tunes of the songs they’re singing. I kick ass at Harry Potter trivia. I remember exact lines from romance novels that I’ve read only once, and I even remember where on the page they are located spatially. So, I recently read the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan, and the whole time I kept wanting to taste the foods in the books. Because they have these crazy lavish dinners at a manor/estate made by private chefs, and there’s also many times the characters go out to dinner in Singapore, or London, or Hong Kong. In particular, I really wanted to know what the famed pineapple tarts of Tyersall Park WERE.
Hello! This sounds amazing!! Do you have a recipe with exact quantities you would be willing to share please? Thanks!
Author
I linked the recipe in the post, so if you go up to the top you’ll be able to click the link to find it! 🙂