Yay! I have successfully blogged (consistently) for a month now! It was a pretty exciting month, to say the least. My watermelon jerky “recipe” was by far the most popular. That post took off like crazy, appearing on Tastespotting and FoodGawker, as well as Foodista.com’s & Savvymom.ca’s main page and newsletter. It got pinned & repinned by hundreds and the highlight of my month was when Nadia, the host of Food Network’s Bitchin Kitchen, tweeted about me.
Yup, May was a good month.
I’ve learned a lot of new stuff about blogging, and got quite a few recipe ideas to try out. The first one I did today turned out to be a huge flop. Oh well, I’ll try and figure out where I went wrong and try again.
You’ve all showed me incredible support, by coming to see what I’ve posted, liking pictures, leaving comments, inviting your friends to join my facebook page and helping me spread the word. I really do appreciate all of your feedback! It’s been an amazing first month, and far exceeded my expectations.
Pina Colada is one of my favourite drinks. When I was in Vegas, one of the street walking drinks I got was a pina colada that was almost as tall as I am.
Jam is so ridiculously easy to make, that I don’t buy it premade anymore. I always scour the 50% off section in the produce for strawberries or raspberries that are going to go bad soon and bring them home and make jam instead. It’s usually cheaper than store-bought, and there are only a few ingredients.
I had the idea to make pina colada jam while I was sitting at gymnastics waiting for Madelyn. In my head, it sounded like quite possibly the best thing ever.
And it’s pretty close.
The problem is, when I get an idea, I usually act on it pretty quick. And, I don’t make things in small batches. So, when I made the pina colada jam, I had 10 cups worth by the time it was finished. I’m not really sure what one would do with pina colada jam, but I was sure that I didn’t want to be stuck with 5 jars of the stuff. So, I took a jar to a friend’s and gave her some ideas what to do with it, and then got to thinking of what I could do with the rest. I remembered seeing a jam tart recipe on David Lebovitz’s website a while ago, so I went looking for it.
If you don’t know David Lebovitz, then you should. I am a big fan, and have made many of his recipes, especially from his ice cream book, “The Perfect Scoop”, and his blog is really interesting to read.
This is a great tart for using up jam. It can be anything hanging out in the back of your fridge. I have a jar of blackberry/mango jam that I made last year and think I will do this again with that. I just really wanted to do something to taste the pina colada jam.
The tart was a big hit in my house. My father-in-law called it “drunkard pie” because when I told him what it was, he said “isn’t pina colada a boozy drink?” haha. I think it would be even better with a big scoop of vanilla or coconut ice cream.
I’ve also tried my jam on a piece of toast, and it was great too! I think it would make a great spread on muffins or scones, or on top of pancakes instead of syrup or warmed and poured over ice cream. I think I will even try it next time I make chicken strips.
Pina Colada Jam Tart
Ingredients
- For the Jam:
- 3 1/2 c. pineapple, pureed (works out to about 1 1/2 fresh pineapples)
- 1 c. cream of coconut (do not use coconut milk)
- 1/2 c. Malibu Rum.
- 2 c. shredded, unsweetened coconut
- 1/3 c. lemon Juice
- 5 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 (3oz) packets of liquid pectin
- 9 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/8 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 c. flour
- 1/2 c. stone-ground cornmeal
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 3/4 c. jam
- sugar, for sprinkling on top of the tart
Instructions
- For the Jam:
- In a large pot over high heat, add pineapple puree, cream of coconut, rum, and lemon juice.
- Stir in sugar and bring to a full rolling boil.
- While stirring constantly, boil for 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in pectin.
- Ladle into sterilized jars (leaving 1/4" room below the rim). Wipe rim clean and apply lids and rings and fingertip tighten.
- Process the jars in boiling water canner for 5 minutes. Carefully remove and place to cool on heat-resistant surface.
- Let sit until room temperature (listen for the tell-tale pop of the seals)
- In bowl of mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg, egg yolk and almond extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder). Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, mix just until comes together.
- Measure out about 2/3rd of the dough, pat it into a disk (the dough will be quite sticky), wrap it in plastic, and chill. Take the remaining dough and roll it into a separate disc, wrap and chill.
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Remove the larger disc of dough from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature slightly. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of an unbuttered removable bottom 9 or 10" tart pan.
- Spread the jam evenly over the dough.
- Remove the smaller disc from the fridge, roll out to fit on top of the tart.
- Sprinkle with about 2 tbsp of sugar.
- Bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool before serving, and serve at room temperature.
