Pineapple tarts

Pineapple tarts are small, bite-size pastries filled with or topped with pineapple jam, popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. The Malaysian town of Melaka (Malacca) is particularly famous for producing good commercial pineapple tarts.

The pastry consists of a large proportion of butter and egg yolk, besides using cornstarch, giving it a rich, buttery, tender and melt-in-the-mouth texture. The pineapple jam is usually made by slowly reducing and caramelizing grated fresh pineapple that has been mixed with sugar and spices - usually cinnamon, star anise and cloves.

Considered a "festive cookie", pineapple tarts are usually consumed during the Chinese New Year season. Typical shapes include a flat, open tart topped with pineapple jam under a lattice of pastry, rolls filled with jam that are open at the ends and jam-filled spheres.

While pineapple tarts are usually eaten during the Chinese New Year, they are sold all year round by commercial bakeries and by souvenir stores serving tourists.