GUYANESE PINE TART
When I think of pastries, I usually think of this trio: Cheese roll, Beef Patty and Pine Tarts. These were the pastries I was familiar with as a child, now I have to include puff pastry, choux pastry and the myriad of pastries. But these three are very dear to me and will always be my favorites. In the Culinary world pastry is a dough that is filled, stuffed, or topped with other ingredients. In Guyana our pastry is not the dough itself, but the dish that’s made of pastry(if that makes any sense at all). Pine Tarts are a perfectly balanced sweet pineapple filling thats tucked away in flaky shortcrust pastry (this is not the Asian cookies pineapple tarts, just to clear up any confusion you might be having at this very moment). I’ve always loved these but was never satified with the store bought ones, so I decided to venture out and make my own. It’s beyond comparison…freshly baked homemade Pine Tarts are worth going the extra mile!
Pineapple Filling:
1 20 oz can pineapple chunks or crushed pineapple
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch salt
Egg Wash:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water
Pastry:
4 cups flour
1 cup shortening + 1/3 cup butter
1 cup ice cold water
Makes 12 pine tarts
To make pastry, mix butter and shortening into flour using either a spoon or fork until well combined. Add ice cold water and combine until the flour forms a dough. Chill for at least half an hour.
Blend Pineapple chunks in blender with 1/2 of juice from can. If you’re using crushed pineapple then there’s no need to blend it. Mix blended pineapple, sugar, lemon juice and salt. On a medium fire, cook pineapple for 25 minutes until it has thickened. Do not overcook!! Remove from heat and cool completely before using.
Beat one egg yolk with 1 tbsp of water and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Roll pastry to about 1/8 of an inch thick and cut into 6 inch circles( I used a bowl). Place a 1 1/2 tbsp of pineapple filling in the center of the pastry and spread, leaving 1/2 inch border. Brush the border with the egg wash.
Fold one corner of the pastry over the filling like an envelope.
Fold other corner, slightly overlapping.
Now fold the last corner of the pastry, this should enclose the filling and form a triangle. Pinch the edges close. Brush Pastry with egg wash.
Bake in a oven preheated to 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before serving. Enjoy!
Ahhhhh! One of my absolute favorite. Can i get the recipe for Chinese cake? That’s my #1!
You know you can overnight that stuff to South Dakota ! Hint hint!
Of all the pastries, this is my mom’s favourite.
wow that looks delicious!
wonderful blog 🙂
I love your blog. Please post more recipies!!
I will try my hand at these Pine Tarts this weekend for Eid. I absolutely love Pine Tarts.
Pine tarts are great right after some sal’fish and bakes!!
Thank you so much for posting these recipes i’ve looked every where for them and could not fine it.I like to do a little baking myself, every now and then…my sons love it,my wife is not a baker so the little i learn from my aunt as a kid i put to use…..i myself use to buy pastry from Arapaima just love it. do u have the recipe for sponge cake if so please send it to me.thanks again.
Mark.
oh one more thing what about cheese straw????do u have the recipe?if so please post.
I will put up a cheese straw recipe in the near future, so keep checking.
i found a lot of really interesting pine tart recipe from malaysia where pine tarts are really popular too, i like the addition of the start anise and cinnamon in the pineapple filling. i find whats really hard with finding a good pine tart is the pastry part though. big fan of crispy crust not doughy
Recently I became aware of their version of pineapple tarts also and was really surprised. I didn’t realize there was another culture that made the exact dessert. I am also a fan of crisp, flaky dough and that’s why I make my own pinetarts and do not buy them.
I have always been nuts over pine tarts!
My aunt used to make the BEST ones. Yummy.
I’m not a baker, but one day if I’m feeling brave enough I’ll give it a try.
OMG.. this is so great.
i have tried others, but your was simple and perfect. thank you so much.
can you post others… my family just love this recipe…
I am not a professional baker but this recipe is great. The display showing how to fill the triangle is the bomb.. I failed at my first try but my second try I know my pine tarts will look and taste great. I will also try the cheese rolls.
Great idea showing the display of the final product and not only the ingredients.
Thank you for posting these recipes!!
I really love pine tarts and i am finally going to try to make them. hope it’s fun and you give really good instructions.
I make these all the time, my recipe is almost exactly the same as yours1
These were great.
If I may make a suggestion, the pastry would come out extremely flaky and lovely if the margarine was replaced by shortening or lard.
I completely agree with you, I have an updated pasty recipe which uses butter and shortening and it is simply divine! I used it to make pumpkin tarts and absolutely loved the results. Check it out here..https://jehancancook.com/?p=1512
awesome
Im italian but i was adopted into a guyanese family………I’ve tried these great pastries so many times but never had the guts to try to make them myself. Thank you for posting this, now I can surprise my family with “my” great cooking skills!
pine tart rock i love it guyanese food 4 life
Thanks very much for a detailed recipe. I was looking for this recipe for a while. Thanks for posting it, it will help me to get this recipe right.
My family and I are going to try it for thanks giving in 2010
I recently went to Guyana for a few months and these are by far my most favorite treat. I will totally give them try. Thank you so much for posting these recipes!
Hi, I am definitely going to give these a try for my Christmas Eve party. Just wondering if I wanted to use shortening and butter how much of each do I use?
I would use half shortening and half butter.
This recipe rocks. I followed your instructions exactly as is and they came out perfect. I will definitely be making these for my party. Do you have a recipe for cassava pone?
I’m working on a recipe so keep checking.
I’m thinking to use this pastry recipe to make mini samosas as an appetizer. Do you think if I made the dough a day early, plastic wrap it and refrigerate it overnight, will it keep until I’m ready to fill and bake?
Hi Tina, the pastry will keep overnight.
Hi Jehan, thanks so much for this recipe! I’m having thanks giving this morning in Cyprus and I never made any pastries before even tho i’m Guyanese 🙂 so I’m going to try this! I have the Guyana cook book but could not find it! HAPPY 2011. will be looking out for more recipes. Sam
You’re welcome Samantha!
My father is Guyanese. These are one of my favorite treats! Thanks for the recipe. Any beef patty recipes?
I have both a Jamaican and Guyanese beef patty recipe on my site. I will post the links below
Guyanese Beef Patty https://jehancancook.com/?p=973
Jamaican Beef Patty https://jehancancook.com/?p=1867
I loved the taste of this recipe, but my tarts keep opening up as they bake and don’t look as attractive as yours. Do you have any suggestions to prevent this from happening?
The only suggestion I have is to make sure the you brush the edges well with the egg wash, that seals the egg wash and prevents it from opening. Don’t worry about the look, it’s all about the taste :-). Even after all these years of making pine tarts I still make some pretty ugly tarts, so don’t worry too much about it.
This is a great recipe.made it today it was yummy….hmmmm
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mmm!!!! Great THKS!!!!!
Hey Jehan
These recipes are absolutely great! I’m a newbie at this, so is there a special type of flour I should use, such as pastry flour, or is all-purpose okay?
Thanks!
Hi Mona, this recipe calls for all purpose flour.
Hi Jehan
The Pine tarts came out really well. Thanks for sharing all your stories and recipes. Food Network/Cooking Channel needs to do a segment on YOU!!
Thanks again, from your newest fan 🙂
Thanks Mona.
Hey,
I have trouble with flatting the dough. I tried to make it as close to 1/8 inch as I can (by using a rolling pin) but when I make them, it only comes out to about 5 pine tarts and it takes longer than 15 mins to get them to golden brown. This is my first time baking with dough, so perhaps if you can give me advice on how to make them like yours.
Thanks!!
Hi Sara, sometimes you’re able to make more pinetarts, sometimes less. I’m guessing the reason the dough is taking longer to bake is because it’s thicker. Try to roll the dough as thin as possible.
Also, it appears as if you poke the pine tarts with a fork. Is that to check if it’s flaky?
Thanks again.
I pricked it with a fork to release the steam so it doesn’t burst while cooking.
Just curious, have you ever tried freezing pine tarts?
No I haven’t.
Hi, Your blog is awesome, the recipies are fantastic. What I cant seem to find id the recipe for the Guyanese Mithai, not the soft type, but the hard, crunchy type. Do you have a recipe for that?
Hi Carol. Thank you So much! I will be posting a recipe for mithai in the near future.
When my mother used to make pine tart, she would go on and make dozens of batches and then freeze them. She would freeze them in reused butter tubs AFTER they were baked. We just pop them in oven for a few minutes to warm and crisp. So, I believe freezing works, but I’ve only seen it after baking. I don’t know how to accomplish this if you want to freeze then bake.
I discovered your blog yesterday and I can’t stop reading it! My mums family is Guyanese so I have grown up with the food but getting recipes beyond a lil dis and some of that has proved difficult but now….I can attempt to carry on my heritage through food! First up Pine tarts xx Thankyou
I have to agree with Oneka….my family is Guyanese and it is the same thing. I am going to surprise them this Thanksgiving with some good ol’ fashion Pine tarts (I am always on dessert duty for holidays). Thank you for the recipe that I have been trying to get for years. The picture helps too. Thank you!!!
Very tasty pine test
I am a Guyanese but I lived in US for more than 30 years. My niece sent me this site, and I have been going through some of your recipes. I can’t wait to try some of them.
You are doing a great job keeping up with our culture as regards to food we all love. Thanks a lot. Bev
So far I’ve tried the fried rice ,Chinese roasted chicken ,Jamaican peppered shrimp & now the pine tarts and I must say …jehan without a doubt u can definitely cook.thank you for sharing your recipes and tips ..they are well appreciated 🙂
Wow, thank you for supporting Lana and I’m happy to hear that you like my recipes.
Had some of these this weekend at my boyfriends family reunion and his aunt wouldn’t give me her complete recipe. I was like hmph, I will just search jehancancook and look, VOILA. Thank you!
When I asked her what she put in them, she said pineapple! ROFLMBO! She did tell me she used cinnamon though. LOL
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I LOVE THIS RECIPE CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT, THNK YOU…
Will try this receipe on this weekend, will update when done.
I am so happy to find this website Jehan. Good luck. I am far away and am so happy to find the delicious recipes, want to share them with friends who have no clue of Caribbean/West Indian cuisine! Thank you!
You are a god sent! I am a single mom with no family here so it’s almost impossible for me to get recipes without having my mom on the phone giving me directions. Thank you so much for your recipes!
Thank you so much for your recipes.i do so miss my Guyanese foodsYou are a God send.
I am Guyanese and I left there a long long time ago. I miss the food and this is a wonderful way to reminisce.
Thank you so much for all these recipes. I live across the country from family and ask my mom over the phone how to make a lot of these traditional Guyanese recipes that I grew up with. I will definitely be making this and black cake for Christmas this year!