Pineapple empanadas are an old fashioned favorite, so for this recipe I thought I would use some old fashioned ingredients. We are using fresh pineapple for the filling and to make the filling thick, I am using tapioca which is something I always have in my refrigerator.
Yes, I keep tapioca in my refrigerator as I do most of my grains and flours. Running to town is not that convenient, so I keep my ingredients stocked and ready to use (What I am trying to politely say is that we have bugs here at the ranch and the only place those bugs don’t invade is my fridge!)
Use European Butter
Also, I am using a beautiful Irish/European style butter in this recipe, which will give you superior flavor. However, here at the ranch, its a little warm and as we all know, butter melts quickly. So I added a little vegetable shortening to the pastry recipe to stabilize the empanada crust.
We are also making a sweet glaze for the empanadas using vanilla bean and a little pineapple juice. I prefer to use a whole vanilla bean as the flavor is very rich. In this uncooked glaze, vanilla extract can have an alcohol flavor. You can always opt out of the vanilla flavor altogether, but for me the vanilla bean is so over the top!
Use Fresh Pineapple
I prefer to use a whole fresh pineapple when making these Pineapple Empanadas, but whole pineapple usually yield about 4 cups of fruit, and this recipe calls for 2 cups. You can either use half a pineapple, or you can make two batches of empanada crust. The fresh pineapple makes such a difference, but there is no way i can predict what size of pineapple you will acquire.
The Pineapple Empanadas are superb with a cup of coffee and a double side order of freindly conversation. Call your bestie, as these empanadas are so good!
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