by Gina DePalma, Pastry Chef

Crostata di Visciole from The Ciociaria

It is impossible to visit a trattoria or pastry shop in the Ciociaria without seeing a version of the local favorite sweet, crostata di visciole. Deep blue-red to the point of being almost black, the creamy jam made from visciole, the local wild sour cherries, is baked into tiny tarts, or large, lattice-topped discs, which are proudly displayed front and center. During my excursion into the Ciociaria, I had no less than four versions, and did not come close to tiring of the intense, sweet-tart, almost currant-like flavor. The tarts or tartlets are always served without accompaniment, which would interrupt the perfect balance of dark, sweet intensity against the tender dough.

Sadly, there is no way to duplicate the exact flavor of visciole jam here in the states, but you can come darn close if you do some careful shopping. Check with your favorite purveyor of imported Italian products for a jar of Italian cherry jam; it is hard to find one made from actual visciole, but any marmellata di ciliegia will do. If you don’t have an Italian purveyor near you, try a high-quality sour cherry jam from Michigan. Just make sure not to use sweet cherry jam, because that is made from a different variety of cherry. Now, here is my little trick for duplicating the taste of the visciole; combine the sour cherry jam with a bit of black currant jam in about a 3 to 1 ratio to create your tart filling.

Once you have the filling, making a jam tart couldn’t be easier, because the only other component needed is pasta frolla, or sweet tart dough. Jam tarts are perfect for unexpected company, or for the dead of winter when summer’s seasonal fruit is unavailable. If you have small tart pans, individual jam tartlets are perfect treats for afternoon tea. This tart brings the flavors of the Ciociaria right to your table!

Sweet Tart Crust

Pasta Frolla

Adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from The Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma

 Pasta Frolla is the short, moist, sweet pastry dough used for most tarts, or crostate, in Italian homes as well as pastry shops. I think you will love this version as much as I do!

2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
Grated zest of 1 lemon or 1 small orange
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small even cubes
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Ice water if necessary

Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and citrus zest in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to combine the dry ingredients.

Add all of the cold, cubed butter to the bowl, and process until the mixture is sandy and there are no visible lumps of butter. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and heavy cream. Add the wet ingredients to the food processor and pulse three or four times or until the dough comes together. If necessary, add some ice water, a few drops at a time, to make the dough come together.

Remove the dough from the food processor and knead a few times by hand to even out any dry or wet spots. Form the dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours, before rolling it out. You can also freeze the dough, well-wrapped, for up to a month.

Sour Cherry Jam Tart:

Crostata di Visciole

On a flour-dusted board, roll out about 2/3 of the pastry dough as you would for any other tart, and line a 9 or 10-inch fluted tart pan. Conventional pie pans are too deep for this type of tart, since to fill the shell with enough jam would result in a disproportionate amount of jam to pastry dough. Blind bake the shell for about 10 minutes in a preheated, 350 degree oven (see p.­­_) and allow the shell to cool a bit. Combine about 1 ½ cups of the sour cherry jam with ½ cup of black currant jam. Fill the tart shell with enough jam so that it is just below flush with the top of the pastry; you may need to make more of the filling, depending on the size of your pan.

Roll out the remaining dough to a 10 or 11-inch circle, and cut ¾-inch wide strips. Twist them at the ends and lay them in a lattice pattern over the jam. Using a pastry brush, glaze the pastry dough with a bit of beaten egg, and bake the tart until the pastry is golden, about 20 to 25 minutes depending upon your oven.

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