Daring Bakers' Crostata

It's the end of November already and time to post the newest Daring Bakers' challenge! I was really excited when I read the recipe. I decided to fill the crostata with frozen sour cherries, raspberries and blackberries.

The 2010 November Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Pasta Frolla

1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon (100 g) superfine sugar or a scant 3/4 cup (90 g) of powdered sugar

1 and 3/4 cup (235 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

a pinch of salt

1 stick (115 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

grated zest of half a lemon (you can also use vanilla sugar)

1 large egg and one large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Making Pasta Frolla by hand:

1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on - place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
4. Add the lemon zest to you flour/butter/egg mixture.
5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Making Pasta Frolla with a food processor:

1. Put sugar, flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
2. Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.
3. Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface.
4. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten egg and vanilla extract into it.
5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients then use your fingertips.
6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Crostata di Marmellata (crostata with a jam filling)

1 and 3/4 cups (600 g) of jam or fruit preserves, whatever flavor you like

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away 1/4 of the dough. Reserve the dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.
3. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.
4. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you're rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.
5. If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin's width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling.
6. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
7. If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.
8. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.
9. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.
10. Take the reserved pasta frolla you had cut earlier out of the fridge. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes, or roll with your hands into ropes.
11. Spread the jam or fruit preserves evenly over the bottom of the crostata.
12. Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes.
13. Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can ass a drop of two of water to the beaten eggs if you don't have enough liquid.
14. Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
15. After 25 minutes, check the tart and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue (it took 35 minutes in my oven).
16. When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

I loved this challenge. I even have a tart pan that had never been used before this, so I was really excited to finally bake something in it. I chose the frozen filling because I thought that using a jam would make the crostata too sweet (I have never made homemade marmalade so I don't have any). I baked it for a long time (about 35 minutes) and it was a little burnt. But just a little. 

The crostata was so good that it was gone in about two hours. Nom. I even made another one the following weekend, but instead of making strips to decorate it, I made lots of sheep with my fabulous cookie cutter. It was so cute, but I forgot to take a picture! 

The dough can be made very quickly, but then it has to be left in the refrigerator for two hours. After that, I just put it in the pan and rolled it around with a small glass. It's much simpler this way, and less messy. The dough is really thin, so I considered this crostata to be a very healthy snack. After all, it was all fruit! Almost. 

Look: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Approximate cost: 4 € 

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