How to Choose Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple tarts are the one item on a Lunar New Year table that everybody has an opinion about. The differences that actually matter are fewer than people think, so here is what to look at before you order.

Pastry is the real decision

Almost all the variation between one tart and another comes from the pastry, not the jam. A short, high-butter pastry collapses on the tongue and leaves a clean finish. A firmer, more biscuit-like pastry holds its shape in a tin and travels better. Neither is wrong — but if you are posting a tin across the island in the back of a car, the firmer one arrives in better condition.

Open-faced versus enclosed

Open-faced tarts show the jam, which makes them the better-looking option on a table, and they let you see exactly how much filling you are getting. Enclosed tarts (the ball or pineapple-shaped ones) keep the jam from drying out, so they stay good for longer once the tin is opened.

How the jam should behave

Good pineapple jam should be tacky rather than wet, and it should taste of fruit before it tastes of sugar. If the jam is loose enough to run when a tart is split, it will make the pastry soggy within a week.

Choosing a tin size

This is the part people get wrong most often. Our tarts come in a smaller tin (18–20 pieces) and a larger one (50 pieces).

• 18–20 pieces is one household over a weekend, or a modest gift.
• 50 pieces is what open houses and office gifting actually need — and it works out meaningfully cheaper per piece.

If you are buying for a gathering, count on people taking two or three each rather than one.

If you want something less expected

Pineapple is the classic, but the same pastry works under other fillings. Nutella tarts skew richer and go faster with children; Biscoff tarts bring a caramelised, slightly spiced note that adults tend to prefer. Buying one tin of each is a reasonable hedge when you do not know the room.

Storing them once they arrive

Keep the tin sealed and out of direct sun. Singapore's humidity is the enemy here — an open tin left on a counter softens the pastry within a day or two. If a tin is going to sit for more than a fortnight before it is opened, the fridge is better than the counter, but let the tarts come back to room temperature before serving or the pastry tastes waxy.