Well one more pie for the Daring Baker challenge, after well already 3 others. That’s not reasonable. The excuse is I had to use my home-made ume plum and kurozato black sugar jam. The crostata di marmellata is the Italian jam pie, the cousin of the Linzer, so that was the occasion.
And that was delicious… I wanted to keep for better photos the next day, but that has not been possible.
The dough is sesame powder (a lot), flour, yellow cane sugar, olive oil, a pinch of cinnamon and just enough water. I pre-baked the bottom before garnishing.
The jam without the stones, a little more sugar and a little flour to thicken it.
Decorated like a Linzer Torte. I tried.
With left-over of dough, a cookie size one make with bought cassis (black currant) jam.
Baked !
So this is not exactly… what I made but here is the true recipe that inspired it.
Crostata di marmellata:
(recipe from Rachael, blog Pizzarossa, from the challenge Daring Baker)
Servings: 8
Active time: 1 hour altogether
Baking time: 30 minutes altogether
Chilling and resting: 2 hours altogether
Cooling time: 3 hours altogetherIngredients
Filling
Note: You need about 2 cups (500 ml) (680 gm) (24 oz) of jam for the filling. This should make about as much as you need, depending on the juice content of the strawberries, but you can use more or less filling without a problem.
My apologies, I forgot to take step-by-step pictures of the filling but I’m sure you can imagine what some strawberries and sugar look like!
3-1/3 cups (800 ml) 500 gm strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
250 gm 2:1 gelling sugar (or 500 gm of 1:1 gelling sugar, or as much white sugar (1 to 2 cups) as desired + pectin according to manufacturer’s quantities)
2 tablespoons (45 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juicePasta Frolla (basic Italian pie pastry)
2/3 cup (160 ml) (150 gm) (5-1/3 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) (75 gm) (2-2/3 oz) sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
grated zest of 1 medium lemon
1-2/3 cups (400 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour
pinch saltGlaze
Note: This will make more than you need. Store leftover glaze in a jar in the fridge and reheat before using. It should keep indefinitely.
¼ cup (60 ml) (75 gm) (2-2/3 oz) apricot jam
1-2 teaspoons (5-10 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juiceDirections:
Filling
1. Stir everything together in a heavy-based saucepan and heat slowly over medium-low heat, stirring constantly.
2. When the strawberries have released their juice and the mixture comes to a boil, allow to boil for the time given in the gelling sugar/pectin manufacturer’s directions.
3. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
4. Can be made ahead and refrigerated, covered, for up to a week until needed.
Pastry
1. Using a paddle attachment on a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer or whisk, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 2 – 5 minutes. The amount of time you cream the butter will affect the final dough – longer means lighter which in turn means a softer, more fragile dough which is less easy to work, but I prefer the texture of the cooked pastry this way because it’s lighter too. If you want to do a more intricate lattice, I’d recommend a shorter creaming time so you have a firmer dough.
2. Add the egg, vanilla and lemon zest, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together but remains soft, about 1 minute using a stand or electric mixer or a wooden spoon if mixing by hand. Don’t over-mix.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour.
5. When getting ready to bake, rest dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
6. Lightly grease a shallow 9″/24cm metal pie dish.
7. On either a piece of parchment or a lightly floured surface, roll 2/3 of the dough (I weighed my dough and 2/3 was about 12oz/340g) out to a circle to generously line the pie dish. I prefer to use parchment with a circle traced on it so I can roll it as quickly as possible, before the dough gets too soft to handle, then use the parchment to transfer it to the dish.
8. Transfer the dough to the pie dish, press in gently and roll the edges to form a good surface for attaching the lattice later. Prick all over the bottom with a fork.
9. Refrigerate the dough-lined pie dish for 30 minutes to reduce shrinkage during baking.
10. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4..
11. Line pastry with parchment and fill with dry beans or pie weights. Bake until set, around 15 minutes.
12. Remove the weights and parchment and allow to cool. If using a springform or loose based pie dish, remove the side of the pan.
13. Preheat oven to moderately hot 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6.
14. Roll the remaining dough to fit the pie dish and cut it into roughly half inch/1.5cm-wide strips.
15. Spread the filling over the par-baked crust.
16. Arrange the strips of dough in a lattice over the filling (see links below for some how-to guides – you can do an intricate intertwined lattice or a very simple overlay one like I’ve done), trim as needed and lightly pinch the ends onto the rolled edge of the bottom crust.
17. Place pie dish on a baking sheet and place in center of oven. Bake until lattice is golden, around 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.
Glaze
1. Heat the jam and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Alternatively, you can heat it on medium-high in a bowl in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring halfway.
2. Strain through a fine mesh sieve if it’s chunky.
3. While glaze and pie are both still warm, brush over lattice crust.
4. Allow pie to cool completely before serving.
GOURMANDE in OSAKA 