Pineapple Jam:
• 3 cups roughly blitzed pineapple puree - about 4 medium pineapples - tinned pineapple works just as well but reduce the sugar to 1 cup
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• Short crust Pastry:
• 250g unsalted butter, diced 2m, room temperature
• 500g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• about 1/2 cup chilled water
• 1 egg, whisked for egg wash
- To make the pastry, briefly mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, separating the cubes, then rub thoroughly into the flour until you have a sandy texture. Add 1/2 the water, then only small amounts at a time, until you can gather the mixture into a rough ball of dough. Knead literally a few times to get rid of any crumbly bits and smooth the dough out, then divide into 2 discs, cling wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Pineapple Jam:
- To make the pineapple jam, combine the pineapple puree and sugar in a medium non-stick saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook stirring often, until the jam reduces to a thick paste with no liquid left. Spread on a dinner plate to cool, then with wet hands roll into balls the size of small marbles. Set aside.
- To cut the tart bases out, lightly dust a clean bench top and roll 1 disc of pastry out until 5 - 7 mm thick, then cut the bases out using a 4cm round crinkle edged pastry/cookie cutter. Repeat with the second disc of pastry and pastry scraps. Cut all the bases out at once to streamline your tasks.
- To make the stars, roll a small amount of pastry as thinly as possible and cut stars out. Set aside.
- Next, press the melon baller into the center of each base to make a 1/2 sphere indentation. Using the blunt end of the skewer, stab a ring of small dimples around the edge of the base for decoration. Brush with egg wash including down the sides, then pop a ball of the pineapple jam into the indentation and tap on it to flatten the surface slightly. Place a star at the centre of each tart and brush it with a small amount of egg wash, then bake at 180C for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.