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.
A 'crostata' is basically an Italian tart dessert consisting of a sweet shortcrust pastry or 'pasta frolla' and a filling of your choice. I chose to make a pastry cream (crema pasticcera) filling, it being different from the regular fresh fruit, fruit preserves or ricotta and other fillings.
As complicated as this dessert might seem, it turned out a lot easier to do. Patience is mainly required while working on the pastry cream to prevent it from lumping. The shortcrust pastry was a breeze to work with, having done it before. It's the pastry cream that had me struggling a wee bit. But as you pull the crostata out of the oven, the whiff of gorgeousness hits you, makin it all worth it.
The shortcrust pastry was perfect, and the pastry cream almost there. A welcome change in tart desserts. It might seem a tad dry so i suggest it's best consumed with a scoop of your favourite icecream! If I were you, I'd pick chocolate.. Delicious!
Crostata con La Crema (Shortcrust pastry with pastry cream filling)
Serves: 5-7
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry:
100g / 3.5 oz superfine/caster sugar
235g / 8.25 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
115g / 4 oz cold unsalted butter
Grated zest of half a lemon
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
A pinch of salt
For the pastry cream filling:
2 extra large eggs
65g or 1/3rd cup sugar
500 ml milk
3 strips of lemon peel, (3" long; 1/2" wide)
25g / 3 tbsp pastry/regular flour
A 9-inch fluted round tart pan with removable bottom/ cake pan/ pie plate.
Method: (For the shortcrust pastry)
- Whisk together the sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
- Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs.
- Make a well in the centre 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 read to use).
- Add the lemon zest to the flour-butter-egg mixture.
- Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
- Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
- Shape the dough into a flat disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for atleast two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.
- Heat the oven to 375 deg F / 190 deg C.
- Take the dough/ pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away 1/4th of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while working on the tart base.
- To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap it was wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use butter/parchment paper for this. The dough can also be rolled directly on a work surface if preferred.
- 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.
- 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.
- Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
- 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.
- 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.
- Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.
- Take out of the fridge the reserved pasta frolla you had cut away earlier. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes (this is not traditional, but it looks cute); or roll with your hands into ropes.
- Spread the pastry cream evenly over the bottom of the crostata.
- Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes.
- Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can add a drop or two of water to the beaten eggs if you don’t have enough liquid.
- Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, check the tart and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue. (Note: Every oven is different.)
- 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.
Method: (For the pastry cream/ crema pasticcera)
- Pour the milk into a pan, add the lemon peel and warm up to to well below boiling point.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture is bubbly.
- Sift the flour over the egg mixture and beat briefly until it is incorporated.
- Temper the egg mixture with a small quantity of milk, then slowly add the rest of the milk, mixing with a wooden spoon.
- Pour the mixture into the pan and set it to very low heat, stirring at least every couple of minutes. When the froth on the surface disappears completely, the crema starts to feel slightly thicker. From then on stir almost continuously. When the crema reaches boiling temperature and thickens, cook briefly (1-2 minutes), then remove the pan from the heat, remove the lemon peel, place the saucepan in a cold water bath, and stir thecrema to bring down its temperature. While the crema cools down, stir it every now and then to prevent the formation of a film over it.
Enjoy!!
