Crostata di marmellata
Crostata di marmellata
Crostata di marmellata is Nicolò’s favourite sweet treat. He loves it so much that I made it in lieu of a birthday cake this year for his 33rd birthday, which we celebrated together in lockdown. Crostata di marmellata is a simple pastry base covered in jam, with more pastry latticed on top. It’s typically made with either apricot or blackberry jam.
This recipe comes from Emiko Davies’ book Florentine. She also includes a recipe for how to make your own apricot jam, but I always use store-bought jam. However, it’s important that you buy good quality jam that doesn’t have too much sugar in it otherwise it will be too sweet (for my taste at least). The quickest way to make the pastry base is in a food processor, but you can also work the butter in by hand. Enjoy!
Ingredients
For the pastry
125g cold unsalted butter
250g plain flour
80g sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
Zest of 1 lemon
For the filling
250g apricot or blackberry jam
Method
Chop the cold butter into small pieces. If using a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and butter together until you have a crumbly texture. If mixing by hand, rub the butter into the flour and sugar to achieve the same result.
Beat the egg and yolk in a small bowl, then pour into the flour and butter mixture, along with the lemon zest. Mix with a wooden spoon until it starts to come together into a dough then tip out onto a lightly floured surface. Work the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball.
Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I usually put mine in a reusable plastic bag to avoid using plastic wrap/cling film.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease a 23cm tart tin.
Take two thirds of the dough and roll it out on a floured surface until it’s about 3mm thick. Make sure to keep the dough well-floured so it doesn’t stick. Place the rolled out dough into the tart tin and trim any excess pastry.
Fill the pie base with the jam. Roll the rest of the pastry out and cut into long strips, about 2cm wide. Criss-cross lattice strips over the top of the jam filling. Use the leftover egg white to brush over the top of the pastry.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
