Fig Crostata
September is a month we rarely spend at home, it’s when we’d usually plan our Italian travels for but since Covid it still seems like a far away dream at the moment. Instead of dwell on the disappointment of several cancelled trips though, I’m reminiscing in the way I know best, with food! I’m pretty sure food is 90% of the reason I love Italy so much, I mean the weather helps but it’s the wonderfully simple, delicious, homely cuisine stole my heart. I suppose it’s only natural that I’ve found myself baking a fair few travel inspired bakes this month, including this wonderful fig crostata. Like with most Italian sweet treats, it’s simple, requiring just a few ingredients to make, it’s unfussy & homely yet somehow elegant at the same time. Essentially a crostata is the Italian equivalent of a jam tart, except it’s more likely to be eaten for breakfast than as dessert.
I believe it’s one of Italian most popular recipes, probably because it’s the sort of thing every nonna would make for you. Wherever you’ve visited, you’ve likely seen crostata in bakeries, coffee bars, supermarkets or hotel breakfasts. I have so many memories of enjoying crostatas but I think my favourite one was a homemade blueberry filled one that was made for us by the lovely but nuts lade who’m we rented accommodation from in Brindisi. From the moment we met, I knew she was a character, she was so colourful &excitable, barely spoke a word of English & unless the conversation was about food neither os us had a clue what the other was on about! She kindly picked us up from the train station to take us to our place & I can only describe the journey as death defying, I’ve never held on to a car door handle in all my life! But then, when we arrived, she offered us a couple of bottles of wine & we were greeted by a massive homemade crostata. With a buttery, biscuit like pastry & sweet jammy middle, this sugar fix was much needed after the short but hair raising journey to get there. You can fill this with whatever your favourite jam or marmalade is but this is one that I’m particularly fond of, my fig crostata. It’s probably my favourite thing to make during fig season.
Fig Crostata
- Author: Katie Lewis
- Yield: 22cm tart
Ingredients
For the pastry (pasta frolla):
- 250g plain flour
- 100g icing sugar
- 125gg butter, cubed
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 egg. beaten
For the filling:
- 300g fig jam
Optional to top:
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Method
- 1. To make the pastry, in a large bowl sift together the flour & icing sugar
- 2. Add the cubed butter & rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
- 3. Next, add the egg yolk to the bowl & stir through
- 4. Then add just enough of the beaten egg until the mixture starts to clump then use your hands to finish bringing the dough together
- 5. Flatten the dough until a disc, wrap with cling film or a beeswax wrap & chill in the fridge for at least an hour
- 6. Once chilled, roll out the pastry to around 3mm thick & use roughly 3/4 of it to line a 22cm round tart tin & trim the edges
- 7. Dollop the jam on top of the pastry & spread evenly around the tart
- 8. Roll out the remaining pastry & cut into long strips approximately 2cm wide each
- 9. Place the strips on top of the tart to create a lattice effect & trim away any excess
- 10. As the tart is thin & will not be filled up to the top of the tart tin, take the excess pastry around the edge of the tin & fold inwards back toward the tart to create a crust
- 11. Bake the tart at 180C for 20-25 minutes until golden brown
- 12. Remove from the oven & leave to cool in its tin before removing
- 13. Dust with a little icing sugar when ready to serve
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
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Comments (4 Comments)
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A beautiful looking tart! New York is high on my list of travel goals too, but so is Italy. I’m jealous of your impending trip. Australia is a good base for exploring Asia, but it feels like everywhere else is on the other side of the world (which it is, literally!). Have a wonderful 2017!
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Thank you! Haha to be fair, your base could be worse.. it must be nice to see the sky most of the time down there! If your travels do ever bring you to this side of the world however, there’s plenty of cake awaiting. I hope your 2017 is a great one too!
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Beautiful post and great pictures too.Keep up the good work. 🙂
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[…] wanted some. It’s for this reason & my love of the classic fig crostata (find my recipe here) that I will probably always associate the fruit with the country I’m most fond […]
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