For as long as I can remember, pineapple tarts are a signature for Eid. It’s almost a must in most houses celebrating Eid to either bake these tarts or buy them off the shelf or place an order from someone who bake these by request. There’s always a buzz about where to get the best tarts or the best value for taste tarts. And all that trouble is very much rewarded when the guests ooohhsss and aaahhhss over the tarts. However, I never understood what the craze for these tarts were. I didn’t like the floury taste of the biscuit sticking to the insides of my mouth and having to deal with the sticky sweet pineapple filling while managing the biscuit. There’s just too much going on at the same time for me to appreciate the tart. But maybe most people, unlike me, like this excitement.

I would rather settle for the pineapple pie. The pie crust doesn’t impede the  flavor of the filling and  leaves me to savor it. The pie crust complements the pineapple filling to make the pie eating experience a truly sensual one. And unlike the tart which requires the filling to be cooked for  hours in order to make the tart less easily perishable, the pie filling assumes that abstaining from the pie is sheer torture and requires the filling to be cooked for a much shorter time. In fact, even waiting for the pie to cool was physical pain. How do you tell your nose to stop smelling the aroma coming from the oven and your mouth from watering at the thought of relishing the pie? Here’s sharing the pineapple filling recipe just so that you can share my agony and joy.:)

Original recipe from here.

Ingredients:

1 pineapple - remove top, bottom, skin and spine (see video below)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt
3tbsp butter - cut into small pieces

Method:

1. Cut half of the pineapple into 1/4 inch chunks and puree the other half in the blender.



2. Put the puree and the pineapple chunks into a sieve and leave it to drain the excess juice for about 10 minutes.



3. In a pot, combine pineapples, puree, sugar and salt and stir.



4. Mix the cornstarch with the half cup water.



5. Add the cornstarch mixture into the pineapple mixture and stir well.



6. Bring to the boil and then simmer. Occasionally stir so that the pineapple will not stick to the base and burn.
7. Leave it to cook for about 30 - 45 minutes or until the mixture resembles jam.



8. Add the butter and mix well. Or add the small butter pieces into the pineapple jam just before baking.



9. Remove from heat, cool and use as needed in you pie recipe.

Tips:

• Don’t squeeze out the juice. There won’t be enough juice to cook the pineapple if it’s too dry.
• Draining the excess juice will reduce the cooking time to get the jam-like consistency.
• Use the pineapple juice in recipes of add it to orange juice for a cool refreshing drink.
• Add or reduce the amount of sugar depending on how sweet the pineapple is.