Pineapple Tarts or Christmas Tarts

Pineapple Tarts for Christmas are an exotic, delicious holiday treat

© June Chua

wholepineapple, MorgueFile

Pineapple Tarts were serious business in my home. Mom set up a tart-making factory, with my sisters and I filling shells, fluting edges and topping them with a cherry!

Christmas at the Chua household was always a little different from other North American families. For one, it was never a big holiday (Chinese New Year’s was much bigger) and another, our food was a tad different. Once in awhile, my mother would opt for curry or duck instead of turkey and goose.

One mainstay of the holidays was her Pineapple Tarts. The special part was that they were made with real pineapples, which she would make a kind of jam with in order to fill the tart shells. Leftover filling could be used for toast.

Here’s my mother’s time-worn recipe with its traditional measurements. Be sure to have the tarts for breakfast, they are a sweet Christmas treat. If you're into more Yuletide yummies, check out these Asian Celebratory Sweets, Festive Drinks and Holiday Salads.

Christmas Pineapple Tarts Recipe

Pastry:

METHOD:

  1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt.
  2. Rub in butter and then vanilla.
  3. Add sugar and blend well.
  4. Mix in yolks and food colouring and salt.
  5. Add the boiling water and combine into a dough.
  6. Cover the dough with a damp cloth. Rest in the refrigerator 30 minutes.

Filling:

METHOD

  1. Remove peel and the pineapple’s “eyes”, pour out the juice.
  2. Cut up the fruit coarsely.
  3. Cook the pineapples, cloves, cinnamon, salt and anise over medium heat.
  4. Add sugar and stir constantly until the mixture is thick. This can take up to 90 minutes.

Cool or store overnight for use later.

THE FINISH

NOTE: I have spotted Pineapple Jam at the Ten Thousand Villages store in my neighbourhood. In case you didn't know, these stores are run by the good folks of the Mennonite Central Committe (MCC). Items are fairly traded and provide sustainable work for people in developing or war-ravaged countries.

And, I spotted an intriguing new device - a pineapple slicer and dicer courtesy of DANESCO ($24.95 in Canadian dollars).


The copyright of the article Pineapple Tarts or Christmas Tarts in Asian Cuisine is owned by June Chua. Permission to republish Pineapple Tarts or Christmas Tarts must be granted by the author in writing.




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