Pineapple Cocoon 凤梨酥

I had no idea what these are called. I just made up a name for it (because it looks like a cocoon). In Chinese, it's called 凤梨酥.

I meant to post this last week but I really couldn't squeeze out time to blog. Sorry if you have been waiting for this post.  Hopefully, you are still in time to make this. I know I wouldn't have the time now. I'm still cleaning the house and it seems like I haven't done any cleaning. Sigh! That's the problem if you have active young kids at home.

I'm using the same ingredients as what I did with my Pineapple Tarts. So you can see the Cocoon crust (above) is flaky and almost cookie-like. My family and friends prefer this than the Pineapple Tart. Their comments were the pineapple jam was more moist and not as dry as the Tart as it's not exposed to baking. I prefer the Tart for just the opposite reasons! *laughs* Whatever the case, they still taste 99% the same.


Ingredients:

• Please refer to Pineapple Tart

How to do it:

1. Beat butter, sugar and salt till creamy.
2. Add egg and vanilla essence.
3. Mix evenly.
4. Fold in the flour and mix into a dough.
5. Roll dough and pineapple jam in balls of 10g and 8g each respectively.
6. Flatten the dough with your palms.
7. Place the jam in the middle and fold the dough to cover it.
8. Roll the combination into oblong or ball.
9. Gently flatten the top to get marks, if you like.
10. Brush with egg yolk.
11. Baked in tray lined with baking paper for 16 minutes or till golden brown in preheated oven at 180C.
12. Cool on wire rack before storing.

.:: Pineapple Jam ::.It's simple to make your own pineapple jam but it takes a lot work to do it. Home made pineapple jam is better if you do not have a sweet tooth as ready made jam tends to be very sweet.

You will just need Pineapple (fresh or canned) and Sugar. If you are using fresh pineapples, you have to skin it, remove any 'eyes' (black spots) and core it. If using canned pineapples, drain it from the syrup.

Then grate or blend the pineapple into a puree. I blend cos I'm lazy to grate and I prefer it to still have some tiny pineapple bits. Using canned pineapples will be more expensive as you have to get a few cans just to make enough jam.

After you have the blended or grated pineapple, cooked in a wok preferably a non-stick type, keep stirring it so it will not get burnt. When the liquid has almost dried up, add sugar to taste. The amount of sugar used depends on the type and amount of pineapple you used. You can add cinnamon powder if you like but I don't cos we don't like it. :P  Continue stirring till the jam becomes thick and sticky and no longer wet. Let it cool and it's ready to be used.

It's very important that that jam is not wet as it will affect the texture of the tart or cocoon. You won't want your tarts or cocoon to be soggy.

Okay, not much time left. Quick! Heat your oven and get baking!

Have fun!