It’s Chinese New Year again and 2014 is the Year of the Horse!
There are many festive treats available in Singapore at this time of year – cookie stalls are popping up everywhere. Some cookie fairs even have fancy set-ups that bake on site, so you can purchase them fresh from the oven!
This year, to try and escape the cane sugar and white flour overdose, we decided to make our own!
One of our favourites is the pineapple tart. The combination of the fresh buttery pastry and caramelised pineapple jam tastes sooo yummy and is very addictive. Also, the golden sphere of the jam sitting on the pastry is seen as very auspicious, and pineapples signify good luck and prosperity… sounds great to us!
We found this recipe that looked pretty easy (from the TV show ‘Poh’s Kitchen’), and then substituted with alternative healthy ingredients.
We made our dough with amaranth and whole-wheat flour. We substituted the butter with half vegan butter and half avocado. (This is something we have been wanting to try.) And we used coconut sugar and agave nectar to sweeten the jam. (It made for a very dark jam that tastes really caramelly!)
This all lead to a rather dense cookie which had fantastic texture when they came our of the oven, but went quite hard in the fridge. The amaranth flour also has quite a strong flavour which doesn’t bother us but you could use a different wholegrain flour if you like. We would probably try a lighter option next time. We made our jam just plain pineapple, but you can also include cinnamon, star anise, or cloves to add a little spice.
Overall we were very happy with them. They taste like pineapple tarts should taste and they are MUCH healthier. They even have that more-ish quality that keeps you coming back for another one! Hopefully they will bring lots of luck for a prosperous 2014!
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
GONG XI FA CAI!
Love the pineapple tart makeover . Its great to use healthier ingredients and still get to enjoy a special treat . im sure that prosperity will be yours .
These cookies not only look delicious, but are made with healthy living in mind and should bring you
much happiness in the Year of the HORSE 2014 !!!!!
A good pineapple tart can be sensational. I am still searching for decent ones here in the Bay Area. Clearly, they can be an obsession – evidenced by this very funny incident: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-diplomat-jailed-over-false-claims-pineapple-tarts-132136769.html