← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 700 g fresh pineapple flesh, cored and finely chopped
• 120 g Sugar
• 2 tbsp maltose or golden syrup
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 10 g Butter
• 120 g unsalted butter, softened
• 30 g Icing sugar
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 30 g Milk powder
• 160 g cake flour or plain flour
• 20 g Cornflour (cornstarch)

Method

1. For the filling, cook the pineapple and its juice in a wide non-stick pan over medium heat for 20–25 min, stirring, until most of the liquid has gone.
2. Add the sugar, syrup and lemon juice and keep cooking for 20–25 min more, stirring often, until the jam is thick, golden and holds its shape. Stir in the butter, cool, then roll into 16 balls of about 20 g.
3. For the pastry, beat the butter, icing sugar and salt until creamy, then beat in the yolk. Sift in the milk powder, flour and cornflour and mix to a soft dough. Chill for 30 min.
4. Heat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Divide the dough into 16 pieces, flatten each into a disc, wrap it around a ball of filling and seal.
5. Press each into a rectangular pineapple-cake mould on a lined tray (or shape into neat pillows by hand).
6. Bake for 10 min, flip the moulds over and bake for 8–10 min more, until golden on both sides. Cool completely before removing the moulds.

Tips

• Contains egg, milk and wheat. They taste best after a day in an airtight tin, when the pastry softens slightly.
• Shortcut: use 320 g ready-made pineapple jam.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Taste of Asian Food Omnivore's Cookbook What To Cook Today