Pineapple Tarts

Ingredients for filling
4 sweet fresh pineapples (about 1 kg total weight) or crushed canned pineapple
600 g granulated sugar
4 cloves
1 star anise

Ingredients for pastry

600 g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
400 g butter, well-chilled
2 tbsp castor sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 drops vanilla essence
2 drops yellow food colouring
Pinch of salt
80 ml boiling water (about 9 tbsp)
Method


Filling

1. Skin and score pineapple, removing all eyes by scoring in diagonal lines and gouging them out with a sharp knife. Grate pineapples and squeeze out juice using a muslin cloth.

2. Chop or blend pineapple meat until fine. Combine with sugar, star anise and cloves in a heavy-bottomed pot and cook over low heat until almost dry. Stir constantly until mixture is gluey and thick, the consistency of thick jam. This can take up to an hour if you are using fresh pineapple. Ready crushed pineapple saves about 20 minutes of preparation time but the cooking time remains the same. Cool and store in refrigerator.

Pastry

1. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl.

2. Rub butter lightly into flour mixture until mixture is bread-crumbly. Beat castor sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and salt lightly. Pour into flour mixture and add boiling water. Mix well to make a pliable dough. Chill for an hour.

3. Knead pastry on a well-floured board or non-stick worktop (marble is excellent for kneading) until smooth. Roll out until about 1/2 cm thick. Using a cookie cutter, (between 5 cm and 8 cm diameter depending on how you want your tarts) stamp out pieces of pastry.

4. Fill each with a heaped tsp of pineapple and shape edges gently to contain the filling like a fruit tartlet. If desired, roll out thin strips of pastry and make a trellis pattern over filling. Use a pastry friller to pinch edges for pretty effect.

5. Place tarts on greased trays, with enough space between for expansion. Glaze each with a little beaten egg and bake in pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C or gas mark 5 for 8 minutes. Reduce heat to 150 degrees C and continue baking for 15 minutes until golden brown.


by esparto