Ong (-lai) aka lucky.. or not??!!!.. pineapple tarts

Why did I ever think making pineapple tarts, the enclosed version, is do-able???

Because it looks and sounds easy.. as in all you have to do is roll, wrap and shape them into rounds/balls?? So simple, right?

That's what I thought.. and boy! was I WRONG!

I've never attempted nor seen anyone make pineapple tarts in my life. In my mind, they're a lot of work and difficult to make. However, when I saw the enclosed version in nasilemaklover's blog, I thought how easy she makes it look.. no fancy shaping required, just shape into rounds/balls! How difficult is that? My interest was piqued. And when dearest mel of melspantrykitchen made this recipe right after, I was convinced I should make it one day.. when I find ready-cut pineapples.

So guess what I found at the mall last night? Tubs of ready-cut crystal pineapples! Whoa! Must be my lucky day!.. Or not?!!

Now why didn't anyone warn about how difficult the enclosed version is???!!! Wait, mel, did say it's easier to make nastar rolls.. but I didn't realize/understand what she meant ^^|| I've never used a nastar mould (don't own one either!) nor have I ever done any "enclosed-version" of anything! So I couldn't tell ^^||.

Of course, I totally get what you mean now, mel! after spending 8.5 hours making these pineapple tarts!!! I was working on it from 12.00am to 8.30am!!! That's 1.5 hours of making the filling and 7 hours of trying to shape those balls!

Ok, my point is, this pineapple tart (enclosed version) recipe is NOT for novices!!! And I'm an ignorant novice ^^||!

Well, now that I've shared my thoughts on the difficulty of this bake ^^, I must tell you that this recipe makes a most AWESOMEly beautiful melt-in-the-mouth buttery (real butter ^^!) crust and a most-perfect filling.. every bit worthy of the word "BEST" ^^ I LOOOOOOOOOVE IT!!!

There have been times (I hope to keep this rare ^^) where I unwittingly trap myself into doing a bake that looks and sounds easy, but it's actually not. This recipe, however, takes the cake for that. It's the longest and most difficult yet.. I only finally got the hang of folding/wrapping the dough over the filling after the 66th tart! But it could be just me ^^.

Thanks for sharing the recipe, sonia@nasilemaklover.. and thanks, for the advice, mel.. ^^

Oh, guess what I found at the mall too? A cotton cheongsam that fits! yay! ^^.. makes me look kind of slim when I'm actually not so.. haha! Guess it's true what they say about the cheongsam/qipao ~ it has a slimming effect with the right cut! Happy Chinese New Year! ^^

p.s. i like baking at night.. but didn't expect this would be an all-nighter! ^^