Golden Pineapple Ball 凤梨酥

I finally had time to make Pineapple Tarts by staying up late last night. To save time, I did the close up type and shaped it like a ball. I bought some cloves and want to use it to make it look like a tangerine but totally forgotten about it until I finished making.


I'm using my old recipe as we like the texture. These Golden Pineapple Ball consist of 8g pineapple jam with 12g dough. I baked them this time at 180C for 16mins

I save some dough too, to make Chocolate Cookies for my daughter. She has been pestering me to do it since I failed my 1st attempt. :P This round it was much better with just a 6g dough for each chocolate pastille, dusted with cocoa powder and baked at 180C for 13mins. I bet she loves it. :)

Chocolate Cookies 巧克力酥



This is my failed Chocolate Cookies below :P Just too much dough.

Sesame Cookie 芝麻酥

I happened to chance upon a packet of Sesame Powder in the supermarket and knew I had to get it. I love it in Glutinous Ball and I didn't manage to get it when I made Glutinous Ball for Winter Solstice last month. I'm definitely going to get it to make something else and it was the last packet there too.

I'm using my Peanut Cookies recipe to make these. Since the end product is grey in colour, I'm not sure if it will be acceptable as gift for Chinese New Year but they taste really fragrant. My husband preferred the 'original' with just sesame seed as toppings. I preferred it with sesame seed rolled all over, as shown at the end of this post.

Which do you prefer?

Ingredients:

• 300g Sesame Powder with sugar
• 120g Castor Sugar or Icing Sugar
• 250g Top Flour or All Purpose Flour
• 180ml Oil (I use Olive Oil)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 100g Toasted Sesame Seed for topping
• 1 Egg Yolk, beaten for glazing

How to do it:

1. Mix flour, salt, sugar and sesame powder together to combine.
2. Pour half of the oil into the sesame mixture and mix together. I use hands to do it.
3. Pour the remaining oil and continue mixing and kneading till the (icing) sugar has melted.
4. Roll a ball of 10g sesame paste and if it doesn’t crumble, your paste is ready. Otherwise, add a bit of oil till the sesame ball doesn't crumble when you roll it.
5. Place sesame ball on baking tray.
6. Brush with egg yolk.
7. Sprinkle some sesame seed on top.
8. Bake in a preheated oven for 13mins at 180C till egg yolk glazing turn lightly golden brown.
9. Cool on rack and store in air tight container.

Note:

• If you use castor sugar, you will be able to able to eat into some sugar giving it the crunchy feel. Use icing sugar instead if you prefer it to be smooth.

Sesame Cookie rolled in Sesame Seed and baked in the same way

Peanut Cookie 花生酥

I have packet of Peanut powder left after making Pearl Ball 珍珠圆 for Winter Solstice (cos the blur me bought an extra packet). I decided to shelf my plans to make Pineapple Tarts as these are much easier to make and I didn't have to bring out the mixer.

The peanut powder I'm using contains sugar hence I reduce the amount of sugar used here. If you are using one that's without sugar and prefer it to be sweeter, you might want to increase the amount of sugar. And if you prefer to make your own peanut powder, you have to pan-roast on a dry pan, constantly stirring it to let it brown evenly before you grind it into powder.

If you thinking of making Chinese New Year goodies, you might want to try this first cos it's really easy and there's minimum washing to be done.

Ingredients:

• 300g Peanut Powder with sugar
• 120g Castor Sugar or Icing Sugar
• 250g Top Flour or All Purpose Flour
• 180ml Oil (I use Olive Oil)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Egg Yolk, beaten for glazing

How to do it:

1. Mix flour, salt, sugar and peanut powder together to combine.
2. Pour half of the oil into the peanut mixture and mix together. I use hands to do it.
3. Pour the remaining oil and continue mixing and kneading till the (icing) sugar has melted.
4. Roll a ball of 15g peanut paste and if it doesn’t crumble, your paste is ready. Otherwise, add a bit of oil till the peanut ball doesn't crumble when you roll it.
5. Place peanut ball on baking tray and top it with half a peanut if desire.
6. Brush with the egg yolk.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for 10mins at 200C till lightly golden brown
8. Cool on rack and store in air tight container.

Note:

• This is a 2-bite cookie. If you prefer a smaller cookie, roll a ball of 10g peanut paste instead and bake at 180c for 12 mins.
• If you use castor sugar, you will be able to able to eat into some sugar giving it the crunchy feel. Use icing sugar instead if you prefer it to be smooth.

Pearl Balls 珍珠圆

Winter Solstice 冬至 falls on every 22 December of the year, except for the year where there are 29 days in February, which happens every 4 year. If that happens, Winter Solstice will be on 23 December instead.

On this day, Chinese like to prepare Glutinous Rice Ball 汤圆. it's usually cooked in a water with Chinese brown sugar, ginger and pandan leaves.

This year I have plans to do something different and try to replicate a 'seasonal' promotion item from 鼎泰丰. It's like 汤圆 except it's steamed and rolled on dessicated coconut to give a subtle aroma. However, I find it more 'Q' (chewy). Due to it's slight opaque outlook. I suspect it might have Wheat Starch, those used to my Chinese Dim Sum, Har Gow 虾胶.

My replica is definitely not as good as the original but I glad I could still get it out successfully. It's very chewy. Only regret is that I'm not able to make the Pearl Balls thin with more fillings. Hopefully, I'll be able to improve on the recipe and my skills further.

Meanwhile, if you would like to try my recipe for Winter Solstice 冬至 tomorrow, here it is. And have a Happy Winter Solstice, 冬至快乐!

Ingredients:

• 300ml Water 水
• 70g Caster Sugar 糖
• 65g Wheat Starch 澄面粉
• 315g Glutinous Flour 糯米粉
• Desiccated Coconut 椰仁干
• Ground Peanut Powder 花生粉

How to do it:

1. Bring water to a gentle boil.
2. Add sugar and melt it.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add in wheat starch and glutinous flour.
5. Mix well till dough become smooth.
6. Divide into balls of 25g - 30g each.
7. Flatten the ball and put some peanut powder in the middle.
8. Fold and roll the dough back into a ball.
9. If your dough is not smooth and is with 'crease' lines, wet the surface with a drop of water and roll.
10. Place peanut dough on a oiled dish.
11. Prepare your steamer or boil water in the wok.
12. When the water starts to boil, place your dish of prepared peanut dough in.
13. Steam on high fire for 10 mins.
14. Remove immediate and roll on desiccated Coconut.
15. Best if served while hot.

Note:

• When mixing the dough, use a spatula first. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, use your hands to mix and knead it.
• When removing the steamed peanut ball from the steamer, remember to wet your hands or utensils, otherwise it will stick.

Have breaking several dough filled with peanuts, I decided to steamed plain dough balls and sprinkle peanut powder after it's steamed instead.

Wheat Starch & Glutinous Flour	Desiccated Coconut	Ground Peanut Powder

The prepared dough

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!

Pineapple Tarts

When we talk about Chinese New Year goodies, this first thing that comes in mind is Pineapple Tarts. Incidentally, it's my hubby's favourite and my kids like it too. The thing is, I have never try it before. Okay, just the crust. Don't ask me why. I just didn't want to try it.

But since everyone at home love it so much, I got to try to do it. And the results? A success! And hubby said it's very good. He likes it that the crust is slightly cookie-like, not soft. Yes, I finally tried pineapple tart for the first time and it was nice lah.


Ingredients:

• 250g Butter
• 2 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Egg
• 400g All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
• 1 Egg Yolk (for brushing)
• 600g Pineapple Paste

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 between 2 pieces of baking paper till about 0.7cm thickness.
6. Refridgerate for 30 minutes.
7. Use cookie cutter or tart mould (those with an additional circle press) to cut out the shape.
8. Brush with egg yolk.
9. Baked in tray lined with baking paper for 10 minutes in preheated oven at 180C.
10. Remove tart from oven and add pineapple paste rolled in ball to the middle of tart.
11. Return to oven to bake for a further 8 minutes.
12. Cool on wire rack before storing.

Note:
My tart dough and pineapple paste weigh 9g and 7g each respectively.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Watch out for my next post on Pineapple Cocoon (above) and Pineapple Paste.