Jan 29, 2011

Golden Pineapple Balls


Pineapple tart is a very popular CNY goodies in Singapore and is almost like a must have. I always made my own pineapple tarts to give it as gifts for family, friends and colleagues. Usually I will do open tarts but for a change this year and make life easier for myself...lol! I did the close type.



Everyone has their own favourite pineapple tart recipes so do I and there are many good recipes on the net too. Most people prefer melt in the mouth pastry and some like cookie base type. My golden pineapple ball was a in between. Almost melt in the mouth but has a very light crisp and buttery texture.



I made it bitesize and pop one into your mouth, it's just crumble so well together with the filling and melted in the mouth, so yummy! Simply can't stop at one. Actually I was quite surprise it turn out so well, I done this recipe in the past before and I remembered it as good but not so impressive as now. I received many thumbs up from my testers (family & colleagues). Is it because of the ingredients I used? Most probably...



Last year I used Valerie's recipe (can't share) so this year I chose this recipe from my collection so I can share it on Aspiring Bakers #3 - My favourite CNY cookies (Jan 2011). This recipe was adapted from one of the Phoon Huat demo classes I attended years ago. The original recipe coated the balls with cornflakes and almond nibs but I do without. The recipe is simple and the pastry is rather easy to handle. Just remember not to over knead/handle it if you want a more melt in the mouth texture.


Today I finished baking my last batch of pineapple balls. Just for record, this year I used up 4 kg of pineapple jam and about 7 blocks of SCS butter... made almost 22 bottles!

CNY Bakes - Golden Pineapple Balls
Ingredients:(approx 62-65pcs)
230g Butter (SCS salted butter) - thawed for 15mins before beating.
35g Castor sugar
1tsp Icing sugar
2 Egg yolks (33-35g)
1tsp Vanilla
340g Top flour
25g Full cream milk (Nespray Everyday full cream milk powder)
500 Pineapple filling (Ailin's Sarawak pineapple jam)
1 no Beaten egg for egg wash (remove 1 tbsp of white & add 2 drops of oil)



Pineapple jam from Ailin Bakery House (845 Geylang Road #01-48 Tanjong Katong Complex S400845 Tel: 67432693), highly recommended by The Little Teochew. This was so far the best store bought I had tried from the past year. Very homemade taste and has a very good balance of sweet-sour taste. Slightly more expensive (about S$6+) than the rest but is worth it. In the past I always like to use Goldern churn butter for my CNY bakes but been told by so many that SCS yield a better buttery fragrant. So gave it a try and I never regret. Milk powder played a vital part too. It gave a very nice flavor to the pastry, so buy a good quality one.


Method:
Preheat oven at 170-180 C. Line the baking tray.
1. Beat butter, sugar, icing sugar & vanilla for 2 to 3 mins.
2. Add in egg yolks till well mix.
3. Add in sifted flour & milk powder by using a spatular. (do not overmix)
4. Divide the pineapple filling into 6g balls.
5. Split the dough into 8g and wrap the filling.
6. Egg wash & bake on the line tray at 170-180C for 20 mins.



I will be submitting this entry to Jess of J3ss Kitch3n who is hosting this month Aspiring Bakers #3 - My favourite CNY cookies (Jan 2011).



What to do when you don't have enough pineapple jam for your balance dough, don't worry just made it into a thumb cookie with jam. It's worked too!



4 more days to CNY 2011!

32 comments :

Cuisine Paradise said...

Wow!!!! Lovely pineapple tarts you have. I love recipe with milk powder too as it gives that extra milky taste and fragrant. Happy New Year to you Wen!

Bakertan said...

hey wendy,

Is the pineapple paste from Ailin Bakery House chewy and dry? If it is moist, i will consider getting the jam from them.

For butter, I am using Elle & Vire this year. It is very good. I realised its fragrance when I used it for butter cakes. When you smell the butter on its own, the aroma is much more noticeable. Tried golden churn but find nothing special about it. Elle & Vire sells at $3.20 per block at sun like but $5.20 elsewhere.

Happy Chinese New Year! Huat ar =]

j3ss kitch3n said...

this looks seriously good wen! i'm so gonna make it! thanks for sharing!

Wen said...

Hi Ellena,

Thanks and Happy Rabbit Year to you too! Btw your bunny tart is even more lovely:):)

Wen said...

Hi ZY,

The paste from Ailin was very moist and was still soft after bake in my closed tart. Open face tart I didn't do any so not sure.

Yes E&V is also one of my favourite where I always keep stock in my chiller. It gave our bakes a nice creamy flavour that I like. Maybe I will try it on tarts next time. Golden churn I like the one in can.

Happy Rabbit Year to you and your family too!

Wen said...

Hi Jess,

Thanks! haha... thought you have finished doing all your CNY bakes liao... you really very on leh! Hope you will like this recipe too!

Small Small Baker said...

Wow, 4 kg of pineapple jam! You did it all by yourself? That's a lot off hard work! I tried golden churn canned type this year. Still prefer using SCS. Happy Rabbit Year to you! :)

WendyinKK said...

Oh yes SCS does give a difference to cookie textures.
I made mine with SCS too this year. Other stuff I'll just use cheaper Australian butter

Wen said...

Hi SSB, actually not so many... used to bake more in the past. Yes after trying SCS I totally agree is better than golden churn. Happy Lunar New Year to you too!

Wen said...

Hi Wendy, you used that too then it must be really good. I will stick to SCS for pineapple tarts in future. Happy Rabbit Year to you and your family!

busygran said...

Hi Wen, I, too bought the same type of jam from the same place after reading Ann's blog. I didn't like it as I find it dry, hard and not flavourful enough!

Wen said...

Hi Judy,

Oh is it. Ailin selling 2 types of jam. Did u get the one from Sarawak. Anyway I never made the jam on my own before. Maybe still can't compare to homemade one but so far is one of the best store bought ones I had tried. I don't find it dry at all and quite easy to roll too. Haha... no wonder u mix it with your homemade one.

Happy Rabbit Year to you and your family!

The Sweetylicious said...

wen, is so nicely done (: you've got my favourite colour casing. hahah. makes the whole bottle so lovely! (: also, it looks very melty in the mouth! i always use SCS butter. is nice and good (: doesnt have the not so nice buttery smell that i dislike (:

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Wendy, your pineapple balls are just lovely! I am putting this recipe away for trial!

Wen said...

Hi Jasmine, thank you! Totally agreed with you that SCS does make a differenc in pineapple tarts. Happy Rabbit Year to you!

Wen said...

Hi Shirley, thanks for your compliment. Happy Chinese New Year to you!

la pseudocanadienne said...

Hi Wen,

Firstly, Gongxifattchai! Shengtijiankang!(Sorry if it's abit off! Haven't practiced Mandarin for many yrs!)

Ahhh, how I envy u!! I miss my pineapple tarts!

Can the milk powder be omitted? Can't find here in Canada. :( Thank u. :p

Wen said...

Hi la pseudocanadienne,

Thanks for your well wishes! Happy Chinese New Year to you too.

Yes I think you can omit the milk powder. Probably the pastry won't be so flavourful but still will taste buttery. Happy baking!

Anonymous said...

Hi i am going to try this recipe this new year. The tarts look lovely. Do u beat by hand or electric mixer? TIA. :)

wensdelight said...

I beat it by mixer. Happy Baking!

Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Hi can I use planta instead of butter block??? Is it must to add in milk powder??? TIA :)

wensdelight said...

I have never tried before but I still feel butter is a better choice. Milk powder enhances the taste of the pastry. You may omit.

Anonymous said...

Any idea how long can Ailin paste last? I have a box for a long time sitting in the fridge and wonder if can stl use.. O have checked and it is still in good condition..

wensdelight said...

I think can keep at least one year.

Kim said...

Hi, do you know how long the shelve life is of the tarts after baking?

wensdelight said...

Hi Kim, at least 2-3 weeks.

chankycat said...

Hi wen,
I just tried your recipe, everything taste perfect! one slight question: How is it that your pastries stayed almost the same size and shape before and after baking, and mine kind of flattened out and because more like a thick cookie... I was hoping it would look exactly like yours- a sphere shape... Please advise. Thanks!

wensdelight said...

I divide the pineapple filling into 6g balls and split the dough into 8g balls before wrapping. I literally weigh each of them to get the exact weight. Then just wrap and shape into balls. Do not press it.

Patricia said...

Hi wen, this recipe is awesome. Tks

Jane Tay said...

Hello wen, what's the diff between top flour and normal flour? Can I use the usual flour instead for this recipe? Looking forward to ur reply :)

wensdelight said...

Top flour is finer in texture than plain flour. I think plain flour can be used too.

Unknown said...

Hi, with this recipe can we do a roll Typ instead of golf ball��

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