The Best Melt in the Mouth Pineapple Tarts (enclosed version)

This is not a recipe for someone who is weight conscious. Fattening cookie ahead!! Warning!!! Do not proceed if you are on a diet.

I haven't been baking pineapple tarts for 5 years. This year I came out from pineapple tart hibernation. It's not because I was sick of it, but I don't like making the same cookies each year. Last year, I didn't make any cookies at all, besides frying arrowhead chips. And this year I didn't fry any, and won't be planning to fry any. There're lots of other things to eat besides cookies and how much can one's stomach take in. Kekekeke. I'd save the space for good stuff, like prawns, abalone, bla bla bla bla bla......

I’ve seen this recipe many many years ago, during my early years of blogging. I saw it on many blogs then, but not now. Never seen it since 2006. Many of those blogs who tried this recipe are no longer active. And those who tried this recipe all found it lip smacking delicious, one even wanted to spank the recipe source, Josh. Hahaha. I've been KIVing this recipe for so so long, and I finally tried it out this year.

When I looked at the recipe, gosh: Butter, Cream Cheese, Whipping cream, egg yolks. How can this recipe not be soft and melty? And I read through the forum where this recipe was posted. I anticipated a soft sticky dough that will be hard to manage. I’ve never made enclosed versions before, so this is my maiden attempt.

When I mixed the dough, it was indeed very very soft. Looks like a cake batter, but a thicker one. So I quickly turned on all the airconds in my living room. With a lower room temperature, the dough will be easier to shape. That was my assumption.

See, it’s like cake batter, but it’s not sticky. Tested before the air-cond was on.

After I prepared the dough, I let the dough sit. It helps to make it more manageable rather than shaping it straightaway. During this time, I rolled my homemade pineapple jam. They are rolled into tiny balls, as big as a 10 sen, about 1cm diameter only. The amount of jam I made was slightly more for this amount of dough. The extra can be used for spreading on bread or other bakes. Keep them chilled while you prepare the dough balls. Cold jam helps with the wrapping process. They are more "solid" when cold.

Then I made balls of dough, double the size of the jam.

And I wrapped them up. Quite slow in the beginning, but picked up pace as I got the hang of it.

See my wrapped up tarts? Roll them round and nice.

After that I preheated the oven at 160(fan)/180C and made marks on my cookies. Brushed with egg yolk and baked them for 20 minutes. The recipe says 15 minutes, but I find they look nicer with 20 minutes. If I baked them at 180C in my convection oven, it takes 15 mins, yeah, but the colour is not that even, top is browner. So, I prefer to go lower and longer for a nicer finish.

These were baked at 160(fan) C for 20mins, whereas those in first pic were baked at 180C for 15 mins.

Notes to take note:

1. Wrap with clean hands. If your hands touch the jam too much, it’ll cause ur fingers to be sticky, and the wrapping process will be sticky. Wash it from time to time, or just try to keep one hand dirty with jam, not both hands.

2. Do not handle the dough too long. Wrap it as quick as u can.
3. You can push the dough to wrap around the jam, no need to roll it big and huge before you wrap. It’s soft enough to be pushed around the jam. More trapped air means high chances of cracked tarts.

4. Turn the air conditioning on. It helps. I just put it at 25C. Just make sure the room is not too hot, as in above 30C. I didn't even put the dough into the fridge halfway shaping.

Oh yeah, the ingredients, kekeke. Here’s the list of it and method to prepare the dough.

Melt in the Mouth Pineapple Tarts

Source: Gan55/Josh

Makes 125 pieces of tarts the size of Penang's dragon ball biscuit

250gm butter (salted), please don't use Buttercup, Butterblend or Farmcows, it's not real butter

75gm caster sugar

170gm cream (I used whipping cream, dairy of course!)

50gm cream cheese
3 egg yolks
400gm cake flour
30gm corn starch

One more yolk for glazing
Homemade pineapple jam from 2 large Morris pineapples

1. Cream butter, sugar and cream cheese together.
2. When it comes together, pour in cream and whip on medium speed (I used speed 2 on my hand mixer) for 10 minutes. Scrape the sides from time to time. It may look lumpy, don’t worry, later it’ll turn all creamy.
3. Beat in egg yolks for 1 minute.
4. Sift both flours and pour half of it into buttery mixture. Mix on low speed until it comes together and pour in the remaining flour and beat until it comes together. Do not over mix.
5. Let dough sit for 10 minutes minimum before you start wrapping your jam with it. Method, please scroll up :p

Verdict:
Gosh, this got to be the best enclosed tart ever. This is my maiden attempt in making enclosed tarts, but I've eaten lots of enclosed tarts and handled lots of different doughs before. Compared to cornstarch laden enclosed tarts, this is a clear winner. It’s not very fragile. It doesn’t crumble in your hands that easily compared to cornstarch or custard powder ones, but the way it melts in your mouth and not in your hands is truly delicious. I’ve eaten tarts fresh from the oven, and usually they are slightly crispy, and one needs to wait one or 2 days for it to turn soft and crumbly. Not this one. It’s melty the moment it’s out from the oven, melty but not fragile. I could just easily arrange them in the containers. It's due to the liquid cream added, the "fat" emulsion helped the dough to be more sturdy but yet remain soft and flaky. Better in terms of handling (very slightly elastic when raw, this helps with the wrapping and sturdy when baked) compared to recipes that uses loads and loads of butter. And the cream cheese added a beautiful dimension to the taste and texture. Lyanne even shook one container but they stayed complete, not broken nor shattered. Just bits of crumbs stuck to the side of the container, but remained whole and no one will notice if you clean the container later. My mom after tasting one piece demanded that I make more of this. Hahahaha. That is a command from Mommy dearest, my biggest fan.

This will the recipe that I will stick to the rest of my life, if I'm making enclosed tarts. There's no need to search for another when I've already found the best.

The real size is about 30% smaller than those in these 2 pictures

Lyanne shook these, see they're still whole!! But the egg glaze was "traumatized" by her shaking.

Yummy! Will be making a double batch in few days time.

I just cooked 4 large Morrises, by Mommy's demand.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011)