Eggless Pineapple Tarts - new recipe

I make pineapple tarts every year.  This year, I saw it from Facebook that many of my friends also decided to make their own pineapple tarts.  Ha, I am just glad that I have a good 5 years head start!!!

 

What's more?  This year, I decided to be a good girl and grate my pineapple instead of leaving them to spine endlessly in the electric blender.

 



See how fibrous the grated pineapple are!

When I attended the formal baking lesson, the chef actually use the same jam for both open and close tarts.  But I always feel that they should be different:  the jam  for closed tart should be drier or else the dough will crack while the dry jam will be harden on the open tarts. 

So I made 2 different type of jam:

For the dough, i use the interesting recipe from Kitchen Tigress (whom, btw, has much a wonderful blog!).  After using the creaming method and rub-in method, I am only too excited to test-drive the boiling method!

KT was kind enough to advice that this recipe is only suitable for close tarts as "it is very delicate and crumbly", and the pattern made mould was indeed puff-up in the oven and all I got was a fat characterless blob.   But I really wanted to keep this buttery pastry for my sister who has a penchant for both all-things-buttery and open tarts.  Stubborn.  My problem lah.

To cut the long story short, I had a fun time playing with the dough, and after using up 1 kg of Elle Vire butter (yes, I am a slow learner as far as baking is concern =p), I figured out the trick to make it more pliable for open tarts and retain its form after baking.  You wanna know...  c'mon, send me some Elle Vire!

 Swee boh?

  

Just as KT put it - 101% buttery and melt-in-your-mouth!

 

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RECIPE - Pastry for Pineapple Tarts
(from David Lebovitz via Kitchen Tigress)

360 g unsalted butter
60 ml vegetable oil
75 ml water
60 g sugar
½ tsp salt
600 g plain flour

1. Put all ingredients except flour in a pot. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Continue boiling till foam subsides and colour darkens.  Alternatively, weigh pot and contents before heating, then boil till weight is reduced by about 65 g.

2. Turn off heat. Tip flour into pot. Mix thoroughly and leave till just cool enough to handle. Knead to make sure mixing is even, adjusting with 1-2 tbsp water if mixture is crumbly, or 1-2 tsp plain flour if sticky. Use a cookie scoop to divide the dough into equal parts.