The Year of the Ox is just around the corner and households celebrating Chinese New Year, albeit on a smaller scale this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, are busy prepping for the toned-down celebrations.

If you wish to try your hand at something a little different in the way of sweet treats, how about this recipe of Taiwanese Pineapple Tarts?

The taste of this pineapple jam is quite different from the kind we enjoy in Malaysia as the Taiwanese version is made from the flesh of both winter melon and pineapple.

The tarts are also shaped completely different from the ones sold locally, but are just as tasty and addictive – rich, crumbly, buttery crust complemented with a decadent filling.

This lip-smacking recipe is by Siew Loon, who has been perfecting her Taiwanese Pineapple Tart recipe over the years.

Ingredients

Shortcake

• 226 g butter
• 1/2 tablespoon shortening
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pineapple essence, (optional)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons milk powder
• 2 tablespoons corn flour

Pineapple jam

• 340g peeled, cored, diced fresh pineapple (from one pineapple)
• 500g peeled, seeded, diced winter melon (from about 1.1 kg winter melon wedges)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup maltose syrup

Method

• Cream butter, shortening and icing sugar till light and fluffy for around eight minutes.
• Add in egg and pineapple essence if using.
• Fold in all-purpose flour, cornflour and milk powder. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Divide dough into 30 pcs and wrap with the pineapple filling.
• Press it onto a square mould and bake at 170°C for 15-20 minutes. Then turn the tray around and bake for another 15 minutes or till brown.

Pineapple jam

• Place the pineapple in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until pureed, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. 18 to 20 pulses should do the job. Pour into a Dutch oven.
• Place the winter melon in the food processor and pulse until very finely shredded – this will take about 20 to 22 pulses. Transfer to the Dutch oven.
• Cook the combined mixture over medium-high heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the winter melon begins turning translucent.
• Reduce the heat to medium, add the sugar, and cook for about eight minutes until the mixture has thickened.
• Stir in the maltose syrup and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is very thick, sticky, and uniformly light amber in colour.
• Transfer mixture to a shallow bowl and refrigerate until cool. Divide into portions of one teaspoon each to be used as the filling for the tarts later.

This recipe can be found in Rasa Malaysia.

Low Bee Yinn is a food blogger and cookbook author.