Melt-in-your-mouth pineapple tarts are to-die for. Known as kuih tart, kue nastar, or kueh tae, pineapple tarts are a much-loved classic pastry all time of the year. This recipe is adapted from a recipe on Straits Times. I reduced the amount of sugar and substituted it with Stevia sweetener, using the same dough recipe for both closed and open-faced pineapple tarts and got the thumbs up from my family.
3tbspwater (optional)if needed in case of dry dough
300-400gpineapple jamhomemade or store-bought
¼tspfine salt
Instructions
Make the dough
Cut cold butter into small cubes (about 1.5cm) and chill in fridge until ready to use.
160 g unsalted butter
Add plain flour, corn starch, sugar, salt into a kitchen mixer with paddle attachment or food processor. Mix on low speed for a few seconds.
200 g plain flour, 25 g corn starch, 50 g Stevia sweetener, 1/4 tsp fine salt
Add cold butter cubes to mixed flours and beat on low speed until mixture turns sandy.
Beat 2 egg yolks. Add the egg yolks into the mixture and beat on low speed until a consistent dough is formed. Add water if dough is too dry (so far I never have to add any). Do not overbeat.
2 egg yolks, 3 tbsp water (optional)
Remove dough from mixing bowl and shape into a ball. Wrap in cling wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Beat 1 egg to make egg wash.
1 egg
Preheat oven to 170C / 338F (convection oven) or 180C / 356F (conventional oven).
To make closed pineapple tarts
Roll out a dough ball (about 12g), make a hole in the middle, place pineapple jam (about 7g) in, gently push the edge of the dough to cover the pineapple jam completely. Roll into a round ball or shape into an oblong shape.
300-400 g pineapple jam
For pineapple shaped design, make criss-cross patterns with a butter knife.
Apply a thin coat of egg wash evenly.
Bake in pre-heat oven at 170C / 338F (convection oven) or 180C / 356F (conventional oven) for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.Note: before baking, if the dough is soft, chill in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes before baking it. The dough should ideally be a little more firm when it's put into the oven.
Allow the pineapple tarts to cool for about 30-60 min before storing in air-tight containers.Note: it's normal if the pineapple tarts crack a little when it's fresh out of the oven.
To make open-faced pineapple tarts
Flour cookie cutter with flour. Use cookie cutter to cut and shape dough (about 9-12g depending on cookie cutter size).
Apply a thin coat of egg wash evenly.
Shape pineapple jam into a ball and gently press pineapple jam on each dough so the jam sticks to the dough.
Bake in pre-heat oven at 170C / 338F (convection oven) or 180C / 356F (conventional oven) for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.Note: before baking, if the dough is soft, chill in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes before baking it. The dough should ideally be a little more firm when it's put into the oven.
Allow the pineapple tarts to cool for about 30-60 min before storing in air-tight containers.Note: it's normal if the pineapple tarts crack a little when it's fresh out of the oven.
I used the Pagoda brand corn flour I bought in Singapore. It’s a fine white coloured flour. In other parts of the world, it might be called corn starch. Apparently corn flour is a yellow coloured powder made from dried finely ground corn, and corn starch is a fine white coloured powder derived from the starchy part of a corn kernel. Corn starch when used in baking combined with flour, will produce a more tender baked pastry.
Plain flour can be substituted with cake flour, the dough will turn out fairer, stickier and tart texture more crumbly. You might need to bake slightly longer than 15 minutes, extending it to 18 minutes. I used the Prima brand plain flour in this recipe. On another occasion, I used the Blue Jacket brand plain flour, it's much drier and takes more time to mix with the butter and is much softer to mold as well as takes slightly longer to bake (more than 15 minutes). This recipe uses 50g of sugar, I've tried reducing sugar to 25g on a separate bake, the texture came out alright.For a 4mm diameter cookie cutter, each dough should weigh for about 12g.For closed pineapple tarts, I used a 12g dough and a 7g pineapple jam.It's normal for closed pineapple tarts to crack a little after baking. The pastry will taste better after 1-2 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 95kcal
Keyword dessert, Kue nastar, kueh tae, kueh tart, kuih tair, kuih tart, kuih tat nanas, nastar, Neenish Tart, Peranakan pineapple tart, pineapple cake, pineapple tart, pineapple tarts, starter, 鳳梨酥