Nastar

 

Deepavali is just round the corner and I have decided to try my hands on Nastar for a change....Bought the last Nastar piping set from Phoon Huat (*phew ain't i lucky or what?), did a search for recipes from fellow bloggers out there and mostly were lamenting about Amy Beh's recipe. Just got to use that recipe, no time for failure.

With some useful tips from my research, I rolled my pineapple paste in advance, let the dough mixture sat for a while before i start to pipe out....

As mentioned in other blogs, I piped a small strip of 5-6cm of dough and put a ball of pineapple, rolled it up and trimmed off the excess...Voila! My 1st Nastar looks perfect (at least to me) and I got excited to make more...but i find the method too slow so i decided to fill up the piping tube and push it all the way to make a long strip. Then i will fill, roll, cut, fill, roll, cut......u get the momentum? I was trying to finish everything before the little one needs my attention. I was able to make 180pcs with 1 batch and I packed them nicely into 24pcs/bx....end up it's 7.5 boxes.

This is so much fun to make and since I had half a box unfilled I decided to make another batch the next morning. This time round I got around 190pcs (for those who prefer to make std size then you will have to weigh the pineapple). Anyway the no. was good. All my boxes filled. I sampled 1 and hubby also ate 1....that's all he gets to try. His verdict: Can fight with his ex malay neighbour kueh tart. As I used Planta margarine, the taste was pretty overpowering. But I guess the Indonesians probably prefer it this way. I will try full butter for the next Chinese New Year.

Amy Beh's Recipe
100gm Margarine
150gm Butter
50gm Icing Sugar
2 Egg Yolks
1/2tsp Vanilla Essence
1/4tsp Salt
50gm Custard Powder
350gm Flour

Glaze: 1 Egg Yolk + 1tsp condense milk + 1/4tsp water (I just use condense milk with the egg white + some water to help dissolve the condense milk)

Method: Beat margarine, butter and icing sugar till fluffy. Add egg yolks one by one. Add vanilla essence and salt. Sift flour and custard powder before adding into the butter mixture. Mix well with spatula and let it sit for 5-10mins before piping.

Glaze before baking in a preheated oven at 180deg till lightly brown, takes about 15-20mins (depending on size of tarts). Leave on tray for 5-10mins before transferring to cooling rack. Cool totally before packing.

*6/11/10 - Friends who tried this feedback they were very good!