Christmas Tart Recipe

Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts by Maria Bruscino Sanchez

Dec 16, 2008 Liliana Tommasini

Festive Christmas Tart (Crostata di Natale) is a sweet dough (pasta frolla) filled with cranberries, walnuts, and a hint of lemon from Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts.

Christms Tart Recipe (Crostata di Natale) is one of the many Italian traditional desserts found in Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts by Maria Bruscino Shanchez . Pasta Frolla (sweet dough) filled with cranberries and walnuts with the added flavour of lemon makes a perfect Christmas dessert. Maria is the owner of the popular Sweet Maria’s Bakery located in Connecticut where she and her family bake delicious Italian desserts for all occasions.

Christmas Tart Recipe - Crostata di Natale

Ingredients:

1 recipe pasta frolla (recipe follows)
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
¼ cup water
½ cup corn syrup
juice and rind of 1 lemon
1 cup large walnut pieces
4 cups cranberries
4 tbsps butter

How to Make the Christmas Tart

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, water, corn syrup juice and juice and rind of lemon. Heat over medium heat until boiling. Add walnuts and cranberries. Cook until cranberries pop, about 4 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Stir in butter. Let cool.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Roll out chilled pasta frolla on lightly floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick. Line the bottom of a 9-inch tart pan with half of the dough. Pour cooled cranberry filling into crust.
Use a fluted pastry cutter to cut ½-inch strips of remaining dough. Arrange strips in lattice fashion on top of the filling. Pinch edges to seal top lattice crust to bottom crust.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
Remove tart from the oven. Let cool on wire cooling rack. When completely cool, remove tart from pan.
Serve plain or with ice cream or whipped cream.
Yield: One 9-inch tart, about 12 servings.

Pasta Frolla Recipe

(Tender Pie Dough)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 ½ sticks (6 oz.) butter, chilled
1 egg
2 tbsp cold water

How to Make Pasta Frolla

(Tender Pie Dough)

Combine flour, sugar and salt in bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade. Pulse in butter until well blended into dry ingredients.
Add egg and water and pulse until blended.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until well blended.
Separate dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate from 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
Yield: Two 9-inch tart or pie crusts.

Holiday Gift-Giving Recipe Suggestions

Fig and Walnut Biscotti (from Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts)Cranberry Almond Lemon Biscotti

Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts
Softcover,159 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, LLC
ISBN 0-312-24133-X 51495
Author: Maria Bruscino Sanchez
Price: $14.95US/$22.99CAN

The copyright of the article Christmas Tart Recipe in Italian Cuisine is owned by Liliana Tommasini. Permission to republish Christmas Tart Recipe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.