Springtime tart with orange zest-scented pastry - Time to use up last season's fruit jams

"Pasta Flora" tart or I should say "Pasta Frola" since this is the right way of saying it (taking the name of the type of the Italian dough used) is a classic dessert and a "must" for decades in the Greek cuisine. Again, this is one of those desserts that I thought, when much younger, is Greek but of course that's not the case:-)) But this light and delicious tart is with us God knows since when so it was easy for a young kid (or even older people) to think it is of Greek origin. Anyway, Pasta Frola is really popular and always in fashion and it is the ideal dessert to use the various jams we might have in our fridges since last year. Usually apricot jam is used for this tart but also strawberry, cherry or other is suitable. The specific type of dough, in my opinion, is the element that makes this tart so tasty and it is worth the trouble to make it at home

Cooked by Efi Yialoussi,

from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper (2011)

Ingredients (for 8 people):

200 gr. of cold butter (preferably cow's), cut into small pieces
100 gr. of icing sugar
1 egg
300 gr. of all-purpose flour sifted along with 1 tsp. of baking powder
1/2 large orange, the zest
250 gr. of apricot jam (preferably homemade)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170-180°C. Lay a square or round tart tin with baking paper. *** Alternatively, you can use a removable base cake tin or a simple metal hoop placed on a baking tray.

Put the butter pieces in the bowl of a standing mixer and using the tool for doughs beat at medium speed, gradually adding the icing sugar. Add the egg in the bowl and continue beating for another 1-2 minutes.

Then add the sifted flour and then the orange zest. Continue kneading at medium speed for another 1-2 minutes. Stop the mixer immediately when the mixture becomes homogeneous.

*** Important: During the preparation of the pastry, the dough must be kept in low temperature and that's why we don't beat the ingredients for too long. Otherwise when cooked it will become quite hard and it won't taste so good.

Place the 2/3 of the dough into the tart tin. Stretch the dough gently by hand to go across the surface of the tin. Spread the apricot jam leaving all around a 1 cm gap.

With the remaining dough make long thin sticks and place them on top of the jam crosswise (see photo on top).

Put in the middle shelf of the oven and bake the Pasta Frola for 40 minutes.

Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely before you cut into pieces and serve.