RASPBERRY JAM CROSTATA

My mum saw my blog and told me off. She said that all cakes and cookies and treats here are very British and there’s no Italian recipes in sight. You could argue that my cardamom pudding recipe last week was adapted from an Italian cookbook, but truth is: I’ve never made a proper Italian cake. I have nothing against Italian sweets and desserts, I promise. BUT, most Italian cakes are quite simple (recipe- and flavour-wise), much less sugary, less buttery and gooey (and in most cases, significantly healthier) than their British counterpart. Actually, there’s no Italian word for muffin, cheesecake, brownie, nor cookie. Italian traditional biscuits are the drier kind (see biscotti & co.), and we don’t really do shortbread as such. So, even though I’ve always been best friends with stuff like pandoro and bomboloni and tiramisù, which are all but dry, low-sugar and healthy, I still found myself stuffing my face with huge amounts of muffins, brownies, cookies and all sorts of puddings as soon as I stepped into the UK, and that’s what I learned to bake.

But not today! Today I will be a militant Italian baker – I will show you the wonders of crostata. This tart is very quick and easy to make, full of flavour, super pretty and reasonably healthy. It’s also quite customisable as you can use whatever flavour of jam you prefer for the filling. Actually, crostata alla Nutella is a thing in Italy. Just saying.

Buon appetito!

RASPBERRY JAM CROSTATA

280g (2 ¼ cups) plain flour

90g (1 cup) ground almonds

100g (3/4 cup) soft brown sugar

80ml (1/3 cup ) sunflower oil or other vegetable oil

80ml (1/3 cup) water

Zest of one lemon

1/4  teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

350g (1 cup+1 tablespoon) raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a flat surface with parchment paper and sprinkle with flour, and lightly grease a tart tin. In a large bowl, mix together ground almonds, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the oil. Mix with a fork and gradually add the water, then the lemon zest. Mix with your hands until the dough comes together. Set 1/3 of the dough aside and roll out the remaining 2/3 on the floured surface. Fit it to the tin, pressing it firmly into the bottom and sides. Sweep the rolling pin over the top of the tart tin to crimp the excess dough, then fill with jam. Roll out the remaining dough and cut it into strips to place on top of the jam filling. Place in the oven and bake for 18 minutes or until pale golden brown. Allow the tart to cool on a wire rack for at least an hour without removing it from the tin – it will crumble if it’s still hot. Serve humming the Italian national anthem.