How To Make Store-bought Pineapple Jam Taste Better? 让现成黄梨馅变好吃的简单好方法

In this post, I will be sharing how I modify store-bought pineapple jam to suit my own taste (more home-made like in a way).

I have seen how my Ah Ma and Gu Gu prepared and cooked pineapple jam when I was young, the process is so tedious and time-consuming that I don’t think I would want to go through....at least not alone. That’s the reason why I decided to go for ready made one when I first made my own pineapple tart in year 2009 even though I truly aware that store-bought pineapple jam can never beat home-made ones.

Store-bought pineapple jam is usually dryer (harder in texture) and sweeter as compared to home-made ones. Personally I prefer my pineapple jam to be little tart and moister, therefore, before using it I take one extra step to modify it to suit my own taste.

................(The picture was taken in year 2009)

You need a can of canned pineapple juice and a fresh lemon (as shown in picture) and of course the quality of store-bought pineapple jam mustn't be too bad (bad as in really jam/jelly like, it should have retained some fiber from the raw fruit).

First take out the amount of pineapple jam to be used for one baking session, and then add in some pineapple juice (start from ½ tbsp) to make it slightly moister (mix well with a spoon or spatula). Then add in a drop of lemon juice (yes, only add the lemon juice drop by drop because a little means a lot, you don’t want your pineapple jam has lemon taste in it).

Keep repeating the process (adding little pineapple juice follow by a drop of lemon juice), taste the pineapple jam during mixing and adjust according to your taste buds.

This is what I did in year 2009. Last year I didn’t make any pineapple tart due to pregnancy. This year I bought the same brand of pineapple jam but instead of adding pineapple juice I add rum. Yes, you hear it right. The same bottle of rum which I used in this fruitcake.

The end result? The taste of rum is not prominent but I think this is something different.

The amount of pineapple jam in the picture is 500g, yields about 64 balls. Always remember to divide the jam into equal size and roll into ball before proceed to assemble. To keep the pineapple jam ball moist, roll it with a pair of wet hand or dip the measuring spoon in water once in a while.

Instead of weighing each ball on the scale I use measuring spoon. The size of each pineapple ball is slightly less than ½ tbsp.

I had experimented different proportion of pastry and jam. I tried one level teaspoon to half level tablespoon of pastry and I found that the jam was too little.

I also tried half level tablespoon of jam to half level tablespoon of pastry (i.e one to one ratio, for beginner this is difficult to wrap) and I found that the jam was too much.

Then I tried half level spoon of jam to one level tablespoon of pastry, this time the pastry was too much. So what is the perfect proportion?

To most of my recipients, they found that slightly less than half tablespoon of jam to slightly rounded half tablespoon of pastry is just nice.

(The brand of pineapple jam I used is Bake King. This year I bought it from NTUC at promotional price SGD4.50/kg. I checked it out again this week it has already gone back to its original price at SGD5.60/kg.)

>>Upcoming post: “Pineapple” Pineapple Tart