Pasta Flora is an old-fashioned jam tart with buttery shortcrust pastry. This one is made with a homemade orange jam that gives it a strong citrusy flavor with a slightly bitter aftertaste. If you like citrus desserts you'll love this one. And if you don't, you can simply fill the tart with any jam you like!
Pasta Flora originates from our Italian neighbors. They call it Pasta Frolla (shortcrust pastry). The recipe is pretty much the same in both countries. A buttery, biscuit-like tart crust, jam filling, and a latticework on top form this beautiful pastry.
Table Of Contents
This old-fashioned jam tart recipe is a classic. One of those homemade nostalgic desserts that take you back in time. It's pretty sweet since it contains a good amount of jam in it. But it really tastes so good that you won't really mind that.
But in case you do, there are a few things you can serve it with to steal away some of its sweetness. All are mentioned in the text below.
The Homemade Orange Jam
Pasta Flora is a really simple and easy-to-make jam recipe. It has a strong citrus and slightly bitter flavor since it is made with whole oranges.
To make it you have to cut the fruit and wait for 24 hours while they soak in water. This is done for two reasons. a). It will soften the fruit and activate the natural pectin that's on the fruit. b). It will remove some of the bitterness of the fruit.
To make the absolute best orange jam, choose thin-skinned oranges.
After soaking, drain the fruit and blend them in a food processor into a grainy paste. If you want a more chunky jam don't pulse as much. Give them a more coarse, chopped texture.
You can then transfer the fruit to a thick-bottomed cooking pot (it helps the jam not to stick on the bottom) along with sugar and a small amount of water. And cook until it thickens.
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This apple pie has a jam-like filling and a sugar cookie tart crust. It's very sweet and delicious all buttery and flavored with warm spices.
This recipe will give you plenty of leftover jam. About 1 ½ (of 900 gram /32 oz) jars apart from the jam used for making the tart. I thought that since you will go into all the trouble of making jam you may want to keep some to enjoy in other ways as well. If you don't though, cut down the recipe by half. There will be only a small amount of leftover jam.
Other Jams To Use
Really any jam will do. From cherry, forest fruit jams, lemon jam (check my homemade one it's so good), strawberry jam, apricot jam, or you can try something fancier like rose petal jam.
Freezing And Making Ahead
Pasta Flora freezes beautifully. Whether you want to keep leftovers or make it ahead of time you can surely do so. For leftovers, place them in an airtight food container and store them for up to 2 months. You needn't reheat them simply leave them at room temperature to unfreeze slowly. So it won't ruin the texture of the tart.
As for making the tart ahead of time, simply cover it with plastic wrap and then in an airtight bag. Place either in the fridge if you're planning on baking it within the next 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Since there will be plenty of leftover jam, you can double or triple the ingredients for the tart dough and make more than one tart. Or even make individual ones.
Storing
Since this is a cookie crust and jam tart you can store it at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Or even longer it won't spoil. But the flavor won't be as good as before. To store it at room temperature just keep it in an airtight food container so the crust keeps nice and fresh.
SERVE WITH 🠫
Serve this pie sprinkled with icing sugar. You can even add a sprinkle of cinnamon as well on top. Or you can skip this and melt some dark bitter chocolate and add a drizzle on top. It goes amazing with orange and will break down the sweetness a bit.
Other things you can serve it with to break down the sweetness and add a hint of freshness are of course whipped cream (unsweetened). Or a spoonful of Greek yogurt, or even frozen yogurt. Another great thing to serve it with is this Greek yogurt whipped cream.
Recipe
Pasta Flora (Greek Jam Tart)
Ingredients
OPTIONAL: Homemade Orange Jam
- 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds or 4-5) oranges thin skinned
- 1 lemon
- 1 kilograms (2.2 pound) sugar
For The Pasta Flora:
- 175 grams (1 ½ stick butter + 1 teaspoon) butter at room temperature
- 80 grams ( 8 tablespoons) sugar
- 1 medium-sized egg
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 350 grams (2 ½ cups + 5 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 550 grams (2 ¾ cups) homemade orange jam or any other jam of your preference
- OPTIONAL: icing sugar to serve with
Instructions
To Make The Homemade Orange Jam:
- Please check the recipe notes below before making the jam.Prepare the fruit: Wash the oranges and lemon. And scrub their skin. Cut off the ends of both the oranges and the lemon. Then cut the fruit in half. Cut each half into 4.
- Soak the fruit: Add the fruit to a large plastic or glass bowl. Cover with 3 liters of cold water and place a weight such as a plate to sink the fruit underwater. Soak like this at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Puree the fruit: Drain the fruit in a strainer and remove any seeds. Add to a food processor in batches and pulse until they look like a grainy paste.
- Weigh the fruit: The ratio of fruit to sugar should be 1:1. So for every cup of pureed fruit you will need 1 cup sugar.
- Make The Jam: Add both the sugar and fruit to a thick-bottomed cooking pot. Add also 1 cup of water (240 ml) (if you divide the recipe by half use only ½ cup of water). Stir well to combine and then bring to a gentle simmer. Cook over low heat, uncovered, for about an hour. Stirring frequently and especially when the jam starts to thicken so it won't stick to the bottom. Weigh the jam that's needed for the recipe and set it aside to cool. Store the remaining jam while it's still hot in sterilized canning jars.
To Make The Pasta Flora:
- Preheat oven to 340°F / 170°C.
- Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
- Add butter and sugar to your mixer's bowl and with the paddle attachment on beat for 4 minutes over medium speed.
- Add the egg and mix to incorporate.
- Add the vanilla, salt, and milk. Mix until combined.
- Add the flour in gradually and once fully incorporated turn off the mixer.
- Rest dough: Shape the dough into a round ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Roll the dough: Take about ⅔ of the dough and shape it into a round ball. Add the remaining ⅓ back into the fridge. Using a rolling pin, roll open the dough ball on a piece of parchment paper. Open to a large 30 cm round disk. Gently roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin. And then unroll it over the tart pan. Or transfer the dough using the parchment paper and swiftly overlap over the tart tin. Use a 28 cm (11-inch) tart pan.
- Make the tart: Press the dough firmly into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Trim any excess dough. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork a few times. Then add the cooled jam and spread it evenly with a spoon.
- Make the topping: Take small pieces of the leftover dough, shape them into balls, and then into cords. Pat lightly each cord with your fingertips to flatten it slightly. Then place it on top of the pie criss-cross to create a latticework.
- Bake: Bake the tart for about 30 to 35 minutes until golden on top.
- Serve: Serve topped with icing sugar or a scoop of ice cream or Greek yogurt.
Notes
Nutrition
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Καλημέρα!
The ratio of fruit to sugar for making jam (if it's orange or lemon, it's marmalade) should be 1:1. In weight. In US measurements, a "cup" is a measure of volume, so a cup of flour or oranges or sugar all weigh differently! A cup of orange isn't the same as a cup of sugar in weight. You have to weigh them - for Americans it's 1:1 in ounces, not cups.
Καλημέρα! For this particular recipe to turn out as it should, the ratio is measured in cups 1:1. Which by the way in weight is also 1:1. As 1kg of oranges yields 5 cups of pureed fruit and 1kg οf sugar is also 5 cups!