Apricot Jam Tart

La storia di questo piatto

The crostata with apricot jam is a staple of the Italian home pantry, a cake kept under a cloth on the sideboard and cut for whoever walks in. No single region or century claims it; it belongs to every kitchen that ever wanted summer to last past August.

Ingredienti

• 250 g Type 00 flour
• 125 g Cold butter from the fridge
• 100 g Granulated sugar
• 1 piece Whole egg
• 1 piece Egg yolk
• 1 piece Grated zest of untreated lemon
• 1 pinch Fine salt
• 300 g Apricot jam
• 10 g Butter for the tart pan
• 15 g Type 00 flour for the tart pan and work surface

Preparazione

1. Cut the cold butter into cubes and place it in a bowl with the flour (250 g), the sugar, the pinch of salt and the grated lemon zest: use only the yellow part, as the white pith beneath is bitter. Then work quickly with your fingertips, rubbing the butter into the flour until it forms a coarse sand with no visible pieces. The secret is that the butter must never melt: if you feel your hands warming up, stop and hold them under cold water for a moment, then dry them well and resume.
2. Add the whole egg and the yolk and mix only as long as needed to bring everything together: when the dough gathers into a soft, slightly marbled ball, stop there, even if it looks a little rough. Overworked shortcrust turns hard like a dunking biscuit, which is not what we want. Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate: the rest relaxes the dough and chills the butter, so the pastry rolls out without tearing and stays crumbly in the oven.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C, static setting, and butter (10 g of butter) and flour (about 5 g of flour) a 24 cm springform tart pan with a removable base, so you can unmold the whole tart. Take the dough out, set aside about a third and return it to the cool: it will be used for the strips. Roll out the rest on a surface dusted with the remaining 10 g of flour, to about half a centimetre thick and no more, otherwise the tart will be heavy; the pastry is ready when it is even and lifts without tearing. Press it onto the base and sides of the pan, trim off the excess and combine the scraps with the reserved third. If the dough breaks or becomes too soft, let it rest 10 minutes in the fridge and resume: shortcrust forgives patience, not haste.
4. Prick the base all over with the tines of a fork so steam can escape and the base does not puff up or warp during baking. Stir the jam (300 g) with a spoon until soft and spreadable; if it is too runny, it will slide out of the lattice in the oven. Spread it in an even layer about 1 cm thick, leaving a 1-2 cm border free: too much jam makes the tart cloying and raw in the centre.
5. Roll out the remaining pastry to half a centimetre and cut strips about 1.5 cm wide. Lay them over the jam first in one direction and then the other, weaving them into a lattice, and gently press the ends against the edge to seal them. Remove the excess by running the back of a knife along the rim. Before baking, give the tart a short rest in the cool: the strips stay neat and do not sag.
6. Bake on the middle shelf at 180°C. Do not rely only on the timer; use your eyes and nose: the tart is ready when the pastry is golden, the edges slightly darker, the jam just bubbling at the sides and a scent of butter and lemon fills the kitchen. If the edges colour too quickly, cover them with foil.
7. Take it out and let it cool in the springform pan: hot jam is lava and freshly baked shortcrust is fragile and would break when cut. When it is lukewarm, open the clasp and unmould it gently, using a wide spatula to release it from the base, and serve at room temperature. Before bringing it to the table, taste a slice: the pastry should be crumbly, rich with butter, with that thread of lemon that brightens the sweetness of the jam. If you find it too sweet, next time choose a more tart jam, which keeps the dessert in balance.