Open Face Pineapple Tarts

I was a little puzzled at how the mould works. Laugh all you like, there's no instructions and the mould came in two parts. It took me a while before I figured it out. No, it doesn't work like the heavy copper mould that come in one piece. You're suppose to do two stamping on each mould to get imprints. But I quite like that the imprints are clear and holds its shape. I don't quite know though whether is it due to the recipe or due to the mould. Having said that, many has said that copper mould imprints are clearer and better than plastic ones.

I have a slight problem with rolling the dough into equal thickness. I kept rolling and chilling again non stop until I was satisfied. It did too up a fair bit of time. But once you get the hang of it, you're good to speed things up a little. Having said that again, 41°C today obviously didn't help!


I have no problem glazing, they were quite firm when chilled in fridge. Didn't have enough egg wash so I just glaze the sides. The centre is gonna be covered with pineapple jam anyway, I didn't bother glazing. The jam adhere well to the pastry, nothing came off.

And the heart shape jam. It's really not that hard you know. Roll the jam into ball, make a slit with a sharp knife all the way to the centre. Open it up like 'V' shape. Sharpen the bottom edge and blunt the top edges and done. It's easier when you have frozen jam. Just in case you are wondering, the frozen jam are very much pliable but it doesn't stick to your hands. Perfect to work with!

These moulds are so cute I don't think I'll just pull them out once a year. I think they make lovely butter cookies with a nutella filling or just any other jam! Back to pineapple tarts. I made it the rub-in method with the same recipe. I tweaked the pineapple jam recipe and cooking method a little using my Granny's Sis method. The sugar is caramelized before being added to the almost dried jam. It takes sugar to a level higher when you burn it.

Roll out the dough. Don't knead it, just exactly like doing pies and tarts pastry, kneading cause it to shrink. Here, kneading cause it to be crispy and crunchy, not too good and not yummy. Trace out the patterns using a mould. For each trace, dip the mould in a mound of plain flour piled nearby. Gives a neat cut and dough doesn't stick to it. Now am I Einstein or what???

Remove excess dough and repeat the rolling process again until you finish up the dough and are left with many cute little hearts all over *winky wink

Now, use the inner mould (the mould comes in 2 pieces, one fits into the other one with minimal tolerance/gap) and press it on the previously traced hearts. Again, dip the mould each and every time into a mound of flour to avoid sticking. Cannot stress enough, do it! I'm talking from experience!


Lovely! Now, glaze all of them with egg yolk wash. I diluted them with milk a little. Too brown makes it look a little fake. I want edible, pleasant-to-the-eyes tarts this time around for my guests.

Now, make that heart shape jam or 'V'-for-Valentine shape jam and smear it on the centre of the tart, pressing gently.


Just like the one shown above. Do it for all and don't be lazy, declare love to your partner/husband/wife/girlfriend/spouse/boyfriend/gap partner/lesbo/ parents/great-grandma etc. Aren't they just too cute to eat? Even before baking, they are this cute, can you imagine after baking when their cheeks are brushed with brown hue colour????

If you're not romantic like Aaron, simply just flatten your ball of jam and plop it over the centre of the tart. We like more jam, less pastry. That is a crazy ration from the picture so don't follow me!

Pop it into the oven to bake until done. And sniff the air *sniff *sniff. The aroma of butter and milk powder mingled together. Simply arousing! I love my house smelling of pineapple tarts!

I'm so tired now, I made 70 pieces of these for my family and Aaron's. I'll start on nastar next week. Right now, rest time, I'm shutting down.