Italian Crostata, Jam Tart

Crostata is a popular Italian jam tart made with shortcrust pastry (Pasta Frolla) and a fruity jam filling. It's easy to make and tastes good! Serve your Italian jam tart for breakfast with a cappuccino or for dessert!

When it comes to popular Italian desserts your first thought may be a classic tiramisucannoli or even panna cotta but you'll be surprised to know that crostata is up there at the top of the list.

This rustic jam tart is popular and is eaten all over Italy for breakfast, as a snack or a dessert after dinner. What's even better is that it's easy to make and lasts all week long.

Check out our crostata ricotta e visciole and our apple crostata recipes too!

Ingredients you need

The ingredients are simple and basic, all you need is: flour, cold butter, sugar, egg, lemon, baking powder and salt and fruit jam (we used strawberry). See the photo below that shows all the ingredients you need!

Step by step recipe instructions

Sift the flour into a large bowl then add the rest of the dry ingredients including the lemon zest, stir to combine (photos 1 & 2).

Add the egg and butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a spatula or pastry scraper to form rough crumbs (photos 3 & 4).

Start to bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. Knead the pastry until all the flour is fully absorbed and it becomes a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour (photo 5-7).

After the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and roll out using a rolling pin until ¼ inch (½ cm) thick (photo 8).

Lay the pastry over a tart or pie pan tucking in the sides until it fits evenly. Trim the edges of the tart making sure to leave around 1/2 an inch (1 cm) overlap so you can fold it over later (photos 9-11)

Prick the base with a fork then add the jam into the tart and spread it over the base evenly (photo 12 & 13).

Roll the scrap pastry back into a ball and roll back out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut out strips for the top of the tart using a knife or pastry cutter (photo 14).

Lay the strips of pastry over the crostata in a criss-cross pattern (or however you like) and fold the pastry edges around the tart over (photos 15-18).

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until golden brown, leave to cool completely then serve (photos 19 & 20).

Other filling options

You can fill your crostata with any kind of fruit jam you like strawberry, raspberry and apricot are our favourites and some of the most common flavours you'll find in Italy.

Other than jam or fruit preserves hazelnut chocolate spread (Nutella) is another popular option (follow the recipe as directed but replace the jam with Nutella).

And if you love Italian pastry cream then it makes such a beautiful filling option. You can follow our recipe for Torta della Nonna or you can make our Crostata di Frutta(a beautiful tart with pastry cream with fresh fruit).

How to serve it

We love to serve a slice of crostata with a cappuccino for breakfast. You can also make individual sized tarts by using smaller tart or pie pans they look pretty and are suited to breakfast.

Other than breakfast you can serve crostata for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or as a quick snack with a cup of tea or coffee.

Top tips and recipe FAQs

• If measuring in cups it's important to spoon the flour into the cups but do not level it off. For accurate and best results when baking use a kitchen scale.
• Butter – make sure you use cold butter straight from the fridge.
• Texture of crostata dough – the dough will seem dry at first but as the butter incorporates into the flour it'll come together into a soft ball. If you measured the flour with cups there's a chance of over-measuring the flour so if the pastry doesn't come together add 1 tbsp of water at a time until it does.
• Chilling the dough – it's important to chill the dough before rolling out so it gets a chance to rest and stiffen up. If you don't chill the dough it'll be much harder to work with.

What's the difference between a Galette and a Crostata?

Galette and crostata are essentially the same thing, Galette being French and Crostata Italian. You'll more often than not see an Italian crostata topped with a pastry lattice whereas a galette is often left without.

Can we prepare this in advance?

Yes, you can prepare the pastry in advance and store it in the fridge. We don't recommend filling the crostata in advance because the pastry can become soggy but you can certainly cook the tart in advance and store it in a sealed container for up to 1 week.

Can you freeze crostata?

Absolutely, it freezes well. You'll need to thaw the tart completely (ideally overnight) before eating.

More Italian desserts you might like

• Italian Bomoloni Doughnuts (filled doughnuts)
• Torta della Nonna – Italian custard tart
• Authentic Tiramisu
• White Chocolate Panna Cotta
• Chocolate Semifreddo

Ingredients

Makes 12 servings

For the pastry (Pasta Frolla)

• 2 cups 00 flour or unbleached all-purpose ((250g) *see note 1)
• ½ cup caster sugar (golden or white (80g))
• 8.5 tbsp cold butter (cubed (120g))
• 1 large egg
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt

For the filling

• 1 cup strawberry jam ((320g))

Equipment

• 10 inch tart pan with removable bottom

Method

How to make the pastry (pasta Frolla)

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl then add the rest of the dry ingredients including the lemon zest, stir to combine.

2. Add the egg and butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a spatula or pastry scraper to form rough crumbs.

3. Start to bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. Knead the pastry until all the flour is fully absorbed and it becomes a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

How to prepare the crostata

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C.

2. After the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and roll out using a rolling pin until ¼ inch (½ cm) thick.

3. Lay the pastry over a tart or pie pan tucking in the sides until it fits evenly. Trim the edges of the tart making sure to leave around 1/2 an inch (1 cm) overlap so you can fold it over later.

4. Prick the base with a fork then add the jam into the tart and spread it over the base evenly.

5. Roll the scrap pastry back into a ball and roll back out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut out strips for the top of the tart using a knife or pastry cutter.

6. Lay the strips of pastry over the crostata in a criss-cross pattern (or however you like) and fold the pastry edges around the tart over.

7. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until golden brown, leave to cool completely then serve.

Kitchen notes

1. If measuring in cups it's important to spoon the flour into the cups but do not level it off. For accurate and best results when baking use a kitchen scale.
2. Butter make sure you use cold butter straight from the fridge.
3. Texture of crostata dough the dough will seem dry at first but as the butter incorporates into the flour it'll come together into a soft ball. If you measured the flour with cups there's a chance of over-measuring the flour so if the pastry doesn't come together add 1 tbsp of water at a time until it does.
4. Chilling the dough it's important to chill the dough before rolling out so it gets a chance to rest and stiffen up. If you don't chill the dough it'll be much harder to work with.
5. Filling you can use any kind of fruit jam you like to fill the crostata.
6. Leftovers the crostata will keep well for up to 1 week stored in the fridge or can be frozen and thawed as needed. When freezing wrap it tightly in plastic wrap (cling film) and aluminium foil.