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Crostata with jam | Print |
crostata1_middle.jpg Crostata is a super easy dessert to make. It is ideal for a delicious breakfast, or mid-afternoon treat with tea. Along the Adriatic sea in Abruzzo, many families add lemon peel to the crust - our favourite.
 Ingredients:

400 grams all-purpose flour
4 heaping Tablespoons of sugar
200 grams butter, softened (or margarine)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated rind of one small lemon

Fruit jam (about 6-8 oz. or 400 grams)













Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Mix together all ingredients except the jam. It can be pulsed together in a food processor, or worked together with your hands on a clean table or wooden board. It should not be kneaded -- just mixed thoroughly and shaped into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and let sit in a cool place (or in the fridge) for at least 30 minutes.

Take out 1/4 of the dough, re-wrap it, and set it aside. With the other 3/4 of the dough, flatten it into a pie pan or shallow cake pan, forming a slightly raised edge. You can roll it out with a rolling pin to help with this flattening process- use flour on your working surface. It should be about 1/2 inch thick. If the dough is soft enough, you can just use your fingers to press it into the bottom of the pan.

Once it is flattened into the pan, spread on top, about 1/4 inch thick, your favourite fruit jam. The most popular ones in Abruzzo are fig, orange marmalade, apricot and cherry.

With floured hands and floured work surface, roll the rest of the dough into long ropes and form a criss-cross pattern (or other design) on top of the jam. Weaving a criss-cross can take a little patience, but the result is nice.

Bake the crostata in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until the edges are golden.

Note: Italians rarely put salt in their dessert recipes, and they also use only unsalted butter. The author has added salt to the original recipe because it just tastes that much better, if you're using unsalted butter. If you're using margarine or salted butter, decrease the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.

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