Marmalade Crostata

Marmalade crostata is for me and my family much more than just a simple tart. As one of our long time favourite sweets, it brings back many happy memories. Through our senses, it make us perceive and remember all our blessings we have had in our lives: our mutual love, experiences, beautiful people who crossed our paths and special places we visited or lived in. I believe that dining together is one of the key family activity leading to welfare. It comes naturally to feel happy and enjoy time with others over meals when your palate is tickled by delicatessen and these are the moments when happy memories are made. Memories that give meaning to our lives.

I remember trying to make my first crostata in our Rome apartment, following not a very reliable recipe. I had the experimental tart in my oven when our landlady walked through the open entrance door. She was an elderly lady, always elegant and charming, surrounded by air of dignity. Being Italian I had no doubt her cooking skills were of a high standard as well. ‘La Signora’ was checking some things in the apartment and then she walked to the patio to examine flowers she had planted there. The oven was right next to the door leading outside and I was trying hard to take her attention away from the baking tart and hoping she would leave before it burns.

Back then I was quite ashamed of my cooking and baking skills that consisted of two or three variants I repeated tirelessly. Nowadays the thought of it leaves me in awe as it makes me realise that I have made quite a progress since then. My first crostata was edible but not desirable but I managed to work it out and make the best of this quite a simple thing over some time.

So here it is, our sweet family treasure.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 250 g all-purpose flour (I prefer to use fine spelt flour because of the health benefits as well as the slightly nutty taste of spelt.)
• 100 g sugar (Fine sugar is better for this dough, so for a long time I was making an exception here and I was using refine sugar that I normally exclude. Recently I discovered fine brown sugar in a shop that I started using instead.)
• 150 g butter
• 2 egg yolks
• lemon zest

For the topping:

• fruit marmalade of your choice
• one whisked egg for egg wash

Method

1. Mix together all ingredients for the pastry and make a smooth dough. First mix the flour, sugar and lemon zest. Then add the egg yolks and mix them in the dry ingredients. Finally add little cubes of butter and mix everything together. Cover the dough in a plastic foil and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.
2. Take the dough out of the fridge. If it has been in the fridge overnight you have to wait for about an hour until it becomes a little bit softer.
3. Heat up the oven for 170/180 °C.
4. Prepare your tart form with butter and flour.

   

5. Divide the dough in two halves.
6. Roll out one half into a circle with a rolling pin. Place it in the form. (I roll the dough out on a baking paper and then I flip it over from the paper into the form.) Cut exceeding edges off.
7. Put it in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes until you see fine brown spots on the dough. Then take it out.
8. In the meantime, prepare the other half of the dough. First take a part of it and roll out the edge in a snake-like shape with your hands. Then roll the rest flat with a rolling pin. Use cutting forms or make a grid.

   

   

   

9. Get the fruit marmalade ready. Put it in a bowl and mix it with spoon before you put it on the tart. Often times I use drops of lemon to make the marmalade smoother and a little bit sour.
10. When the bottom part of the tart is ready (you see some brown spots on it), take it out from the oven and place the dough edge around the base. Put marmalade in the centre and spread it all over the pastry base, towards the edge.

    

    

    

11. Put the decorative shapes or a grid on the top.
12. Apply an egg wash.
13. Return the pie to the oven and leave it there for another half an hour until it turns lightly brown.

Enjoy!