Crostata is one of the most classic Italian desserts. This recipe makes the perfect dough (pasta frolla) just like nonna would make. You can even make it ahead of time, freeze it, and enjoy it at your convenience!
What is Crostata?
Crostata is an Italian jam tart. It is one of the most classic Italian desserts. It uses a shortcrust dough (pasta frolla) made with flour, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, baking powder and lemon zest. It's then filled with jam (most traditionally).
But the crostata has evolved from its original jam fillings to have different types of fillings - from nutella and ricotta, to pastry cream, the possibilities (and combinations) are endless!
Many regions and towns in Italy have their own desserts that vary from region to region. But a crostata is one of those desserts that is known and made throughout all of Italy.
What Makes a Good Crostata?
Quite simply, the dough (pasta frolla) needs to be perfect. Perfect in the sense that it can't be too hard, or too soft, or too crumbly. But it should be a little crumbly once it's baked and a little soft! Getting the perfect pasta frolla is a science.
I've tried many pasta frolla recipes and I've learned that the secret to getting a perfect pasta frolla dough it to use a combination of whole eggs and egg yolks. The egg yolks will make the dough soft once it's baked. If you use whole eggs, the pasta frolla will be too hard.
What is the Difference Between a Pie and Crostata?
A pie dough is more flaky than a crostata dough. A crostata dough is more crumbly, because crostata dough uses eggs, pie dough does not. And pie dough is not sweet, while pasta frolla is.
The star of a pie is the filling, while in a crostata, the dough and filling are equally as important. Pies are usually filled with fresh fruit, while crostatas traditionally use jam as a filling.
How to Store Crostata:
You can slice crostata and serve it once it has cooled completely (a few hours after coming out of the oven).
You can also slice it and keep it an in airtight container for a few days. Or you can slice it up and freeze it for up to 3 months. Just take it out of the freezer and defrost it at room temperature once you're ready to eat it.
How to Make Strawberry Jam Crostata - Step by Step
In bowl of a KitcheAid mixer, stir together flour, sugar, and baking powder (photo 1)
Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, and add the eggs, egg yolk, butter and lemon zest (photo 2)
Beat the ingredients together in the mixer until the dough starts to come together, until it almost forms a ball (photo 3)
On a smooth surface, very gently form the dough into a ball (photo 4). Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from the fridge, remove ¼ of the dough, and roll the rest of the dough out with a rolling pin on a well floured surface until it's ⅛" thick (photo 5)
Roll the dough on to the rolling pin, and transfer it to a tart pan (photos 6 & 7)
Top dough with jam and spread it out evenly (photo 8)
Cut strips from remaining dough, and make a lattice pattern on the crostata. Fold in the edges of the crostata over the lattices (photo 9)
Bake crostata in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until dough is golden. Remove from oven, let crostata cool completely (a few hours), slice and serve!
What to do with the leftover dough:
This recipe makes quite a bit of dough, due to the large size of the tart pan (11 inches) and you will have lots of dough left. You could make another crostata, or make jam cookies with the extra dough. Here's how to make them:
Roll out extra dough, cut circles with a cookie cutter, and place about ½ tablespoon jam in center of circle (photos 1 & 2).
Fold one edge over to form a half moon shape and seal the cookie well (photo 3).
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350ºF until golden (about 20 minutes).
Top Tips to Make this Strawberry Jam Crostata:
- This recipe uses quite a large tart pan - an 11 inch tart pan.
- This recipe will produce a lot of extra dough. You can use the dough to make another crostata, a pastiera, or jam cookies.
- This crostata uses strawberry jam, the most classic flavor, but you can use any other jam flavor you'd like- apricot, raspberry, fig, etc.
- If you are using a smaller tart pan than 11 inches, you could also halve the dough recipe.
- Use a high quality jam, as it's the only filling ingredient, so the flavor should shine.
- Ensure to roll out the dough on a well-floured surface, as it can be quite a moist dough. If the dough is sticking to the surface, roll it out again with more flour - it most likely needs more flour.
Other Tart Recipes You Might Like:
- Pistachio Mascarpone Tart
- No Bake Nutella Tart with Amaretti Cookie Crust
- Fig, Honey and Mascarpone Tart
If you’ve tried making this Jam Crostata, or any other recipe on the blog please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.
Recipe
Strawberry Crostata (Italian Jam Tart)
Crostata is one of the most classic Italian desserts. This recipe makes the perfect dough (pasta frolla) just like nonna would make. You can even make it ahead of time, freeze it, and enjoy it at your convenience!
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 ¼ cup butter at room temperature
- zest of one lemon about 1 tbsp
- 1 ¼ cup strawberry jam
Instructions
-
In bowl of a KitcheAid mixer, stir together flour, sugar, and baking powder.
-
Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, and add the eggs, egg yolk, butter and lemon zest.
-
Beat the ingredients together in the mixer until the dough starts to come together, until it almost forms a ball.
-
On a smooth surface, very gently form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour.
-
Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from the fridge, remove ¼ of the dough, and roll the rest of the dough out with a rolling pin on a well floured surface until it's ⅛" thick.
-
Roll the dough on to the rolling pin, and transfer it to a tart pan.
-
Top dough with jam and spread it out evenly.
-
Cut strips from remaining dough, and make a lattice pattern on the crostata. Fold in the edges of the crostata over the lattices.
-
Bake crostata in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until dough is golden.
-
Remove from oven, let crostata cool completely (a few hours), slice and serve!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- This recipe uses quite a large tart pan - an 11 inch tart pan.
- This recipe will produce a lot of extra dough. You can use the dough to make another crostata, a pastiera, or jam cookies.
- This crostata uses strawberry jam, the most classic flavor, but you can use any other jam flavor you'd like- apricot, raspberry, fig, etc.
- If you are using a smaller tart pan than 11 inches, you could also halve the dough recipe.
- Use a high quality jam, as it's the only filling ingredient, so the flavor should shine.
- Ensure to roll out the dough on a well-floured surface, as it can be quite a moist dough. If the dough is sticking to the surface, roll it out again with more flour - it most likely needs more flour.
