My mother had four siblings, a large and quarrelsome family.
His favorite brother has always been the penultimate: Giorgio, fond of sweets and candies since early childhood. As an adult, he often hides from his wife’s stern eyes to be able to eat another slice of cake in peace. Being such a devotee of sweets, he is always discovering new recipes. One of the best recipes that he has passed on to me is for this tart of the Italian region of origin of his father-in-law: simple and very tasty.

Molise tart of Uncle Giorgio

  • Preparation time: 90 minutes + time for the shortcrust to rest in the refrigerator
  • Ingredients for a 9 26/64 inch tart pan
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For the shortcrust pastry
  • 250 gr or 9 oz of pastry flour
  • 110 gr or 4 oz of icing sugar
  • 110 gr or 4 oz of butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • For the stuffing
  • 5 tablespoons of sour cherry jam
  • 200 gr or 7 oz of Amaretti biscuits
  • 1 small glass of rum
  • 1 yolk
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of cream 35% fat
  • 110 gr or 4 oz of crumbled peeled almonds
  1. Instructions
  2. In a bowl, whisk the butter with the icing sugar. Add the egg and then the flour and salt. Mix quickly. Wrap the mixture and cover it with cellophane. Put it to rest in the refrigerator for twelve hours or at least four hours.
  3. Spread the shortcrust pastry between two sheets of baking paper. Leave it in the refrigerator for about ten minutes to make it cold again.
  4. In a bowl, crumble the biscuits and moisten with rum. In a second bowl, mix the egg yolk with the sugar and then add the cream.
  5. Butter and flour a 9 29⁄64inch tart pan and then add the shortcrust pastry dough.
  6. Prick the base with a fork. First, add the jam and then the biscuits with rum. Add the egg mixture and sprinkle over with the crumbled almonds.
  7. Cook at 325° F for about forty minutes.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The flour for the pastry is a weak one with a maximum of 8% protein. This will ensure that you do not develop a gelatinous mess. For this same reason, the dough should be hardly worked.
  • Rolling out the shortcrust pastry between two sheets of baking paper makes the process easier. Obviously, before pouring it into the pan, remove it from the baking paper!
  • The timing of baking varies because each oven cooks differently. The pastry should not darken too much.

 Mum’s younger siblings. Giorgio is the one in the center