Apricot Jam Crostata

So, I made this over a week ago. That seems a little weird to me, to be writing about and talking about something that is already long gone and enjoyed (well enjoyed, mind you!). Although I usually don’t blog in anything close to “real time,” I think I have been especially aware of the time lag lately since everything seems to be going by SO QUICKLY. We’re down to a less than 3 weeks (!) until I graduate. That’s three weeks to find a way to eat all the food in my pantry, to handle both my best friend’s and my own birthday, to do all those things I’ve wanted to do in this city with these friends over the past 3 years that I haven’t got a chance to, to finish that thing called a thesis that has been consuming me wildly, to, you know, figure out what I’m going to do with my life after I graduate (something that strangely enough hasn’t been consuming me wildly, but should be).

It’s all a little surreal to me. I could try to gauge my feelings about everything but I’m pretty sure I have neither the time nor the audacity to try and figure that all out at the moment.  I have a good knack of blocking pesky or bothersome things out of my consciousness  anyway. Some part of my brain, for my sake, hides feelings and decisions that I don’t want to deal with away where I can’t reach them. They stay there, until someone or something else makes the decision for me or it all compounds into one big terrible mess that I can’t ignore. I can’t tell if this “skill” of mine is good or bad yet (you tell me).

Anyway, a critical part of this whole scheme of mine is that I don’t have time to do everything I want or need to, but I do have time to muddle away making treats of some form…obviously. Because treats are necessary. Anyway, so about a week ago a friend of mine and I wanted to make some treat resonant of tea time; something buttery, cakey and a little crumbly, sweet. Although I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for the better part of a year, the fact that I had an almost-full jar of apricot jam in my fridge (along with the very important fact that I have only the aforementioned scant 3 weeks (3 weeks!) to use it up), this recipe seemed like destiny.

So we made the dough, briefly chilled it, squished it all into a pan and spread nearly the full jar of jam on top. I suppose that on this particular day, we were feeling rather aesthetically inclined, seeing as we went all out and decided to do a pretty lattice top. You’ll be happy to know that despite how we pretty much botched it up, squished it all around, and made it look rather messy, when it emerged from the oven it was a real beauty. We ate slices of it warm, but I think it is best at room temperature.

When I ate a slice of it for breakfast, it reminded me of when Waylon and I were in Florence, where we shared a twin bed at a hostel. Even though the shower didn’t work, the breakfast at that hostel was the best—they had teas and toast and jams and an apricot crostata, with a lattice top just like this one. I can’t really remember what it tasted like, but I think this one was just as good if not better. The pastry is crumbly, buttery, and soft, and it has a really nice texture from the addition of some cornmeal (the idea of which came from David Lebovtiz). It’s basically like a cookie-pastry crust that’s all wrapped around a thin layer of sticky sweet jam.

Regarding the jam, I think any would really do. With that being said, I honestly also think a quick homemade jam would be best here—that way you could control the amount of sugar and balance out the sweet pastry with a more tart jam (kind of like that of the rhubarb-raspberry sort in another crostata I made, just about forever ago). I do however find a lot of appeal in the idea of making this sort of dessert as a spur-of-the-moment thing by being resourceful and using up what you have on hand.  So if you have an almost-full jar of apricot jam in the fridge that needs to be used in a few weeks, I’d say that trumps all.

One Year Ago: Rhubarb-Grapefruit Marmalade (hey! that woulda worked well here) and Caramelized Cauliflower Pasta with Parmesan, Pine Nuts, and Lemon

Apricot Jam Crostata
Adapted from Maggie Barrett, via The Wednesday Chef and David Lebovitz
Serves 8

You can make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge, but when you take it out to press into the pan, you’ll probably have to wait a bit for the dough to soften and become flexible. Also, feel free to substitute any sort of jam you’d like here.

1 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough
1/2 cup (70 grams) cornmeal or polenta
scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
9 (110 grams) tablespoons unsalted butter, at room tempurature
1/2 (100 grams) cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
14 ounces (450 grams) apricot jam

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until well-combined, about 1 minute. Mix in the egg and egg yolk until combined. Add in the flour mixture and continue to mix at medium speed until the mixture begins to get all clumpy.

By hand, separate the dough into two balls, with one part roughly twice as big as the other (as in, separate the dough into two parts of 1/3 and 2/3). Wrap the two balls in plastic wrap and place the in fridge for about 30 minutes, just to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the dough from the fridge. Starting with the larger section, press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Fill the crust with the jam, spread in an even layer. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining 1/3 dough until it’s about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into narrow strips and place them in a lattice pattern, if you’d like, on the crostata. I personally think it’s prettier and more personal if you don’t make it look too perfect.

Bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. (Side note: in researching this recipe I found this bit hidden in the instructions of a recipe from an Italian cook: “Do not let it overbake or the pasta frolla will become hard as stone and the jam will become as sticky as glue.” So yeah, keep that in mind.) Let cool at least a little bit before serving; it’s best served at room temperature.

Peach Apricot Crumble Bars

Before we get started here, I know what you’re thinking: “Peach already? Really, Amy? We’ve barely touched down on spring.” And yes! I realize we are a long ways away from peach season, as sad as it is for me to say that seeing as they are probably-maybe my favorite fruit (okay okay, at least my favorite of the stone fruits).

But you see, the genius of these bars is that they don’t require fresh peaches—they don’t even encourage it, actually. So put your foodie judgments away everyone, because all you need to make these bars is a jar of jam and a bag of some good frozen peach slices.

I ran across this recipe when I was at home over spring break while admiring The America’s Test Kitchen’s Menu Cookbook that I had checked out from the library. In case you didn’t know, America’s Test Kitchen are the people who run Cook’s Illustrated, among other publications like Cook’s Country. I’m not sure of your feelings about America’s Test Kitchen (tell me!), but I know I go through phases with them. Sometimes I’m really into the traditional and more intuitive type of cooking that relies less on scientifically-precise and descriptive recipes and more on the common-sense kitchen things your mom/grandma/friends have showed you along the way in the kitchen. Obviously this isn’t very in line with the Cook’s approach to cooking.

But at other times, how could I not fall for the precision in their recipes, the way they explain every reason to the success of their methods, or just the fact that their dishes almost always turn out as they promised they would? Bundle up a few handfuls of those recipes into menus (and organize them by seasons, to boot) and place some stunning and glossy pictures on the side and you have me sold my friends, sold. So if you can’t tell already, I’m a bit of a fan of America’s Test Kitchen right now.

How could I not be? I mean, just look at these bars! I wish you could try them out, I really could. Because these are really good. Like seriously, not-a-single-thing-wrong-about-them, really, really good. In fact, they are probably the perfect version of my ideal fruit bar. There, I said it! Perfect. A buttery, nutty and not-too-thin shortbread crust, a tart (if you use apricot jam, like me) and tangy fruit layer that tastes exactly as the sun and summer should, and a crunchy crumb topping with almond slices. Even my boyfriend who is hesitant towards sweets in general (I know, how can we be dating?) ate four bars right off the bat without a second thought.

And as mentioned above, the recipe says frozen peaches work best here—they found that frozen rather than fresh provide the best and most reliable consistency. That being said, the peaches I used were peaches my mom froze back during the end of last summer (being the smart woman she is), but a bag of good quality ones from the store will do just fine. So really, there’s no excuse not to go make these. Although I do think making and eating these in the dead of winter might be a little perverse, making them now in the early days of spring? It’s just enough to hold you over until you can get your hands on perfectly ripe and juicy peaches to eat by themselves in a few months. But truth be told, I might still be making these bars even then. Yep, they’re that good.

Easy Peach Apricot Crumble Bars
From The America’s Test Kitchen’s Menu Cookbook 
Makes around 20-24 square bars

The original recipe called for peach jam, which you could certainly use. I however enjoyed the tangy and tart flavor the apricot jam (and I also enjoyed the convenience factor that I already had apricot jam and that peach jam is a bit more difficult to find). Also, the almonds I used are these toasted, dry sliced ones from Trader Joe’s–they’re unusually and wonderfully crunchy. Any sliced almonds will do, but just thought I’d throw that out there.

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups (6 1/2 ounces) sliced almonds
1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed (2 1/3 ounces) packed light brown sugar, plus one tablespoon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened (I zapped mine in the microwave on defrost setting for about 20-30 seconds)
1 1/2 pounds frozen sliced and peeled peaches, thawed on paper towels to soak up any excess liquid
1/2 cup apricot jam (see note; peach can be used)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and adjust oven rack to be in the middle position. Line a 13 x 9 baking dish with aluminum foil (or parchment paper) to make a “sling.” Butter the foil and any part of the baking dish the foil doesn’t cover. Set aside.

Process flour, 1 1/4 cups of the almonds, the granulated sugar, 1/3 cup of the brown sugar and salt in a food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Add softened butter pieces and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces of butter, about 20 1-second pulses.

Measure out 1/2 cup of the processed mixture and reserve for the crumble topping. Pour the rest of it into the prepared pan and, using a measuring cup or the back of a large shallow spoon, press into an even layer (note– you’ll need the food processor again so don’t clean it just yet). Bake crust in the preheated oven until fragrant and golden brown (especially around the edges), around 15 minutes.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the reserved crumble topping mixture and stir to combine. Then pinch the mixture between your fingers and break into clumps the size of hazelnuts to form a streusel-like topping. Set aside.

Combine the thawed peaches and jam in the food processor and process until the peaches are broken up into chunks. It’s okay if the mixture just looks a little bit mushy–you’re just trying to break it down a little here. Transfer peach mixture to a large nonstick skillet and cook over high heat until thickened and with a more jam-like consistency, about 7-9 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Spread the cooked peach mixture over the hot crust into an even layer. Sprinkle over the reserved streusel topping and then the remaining 1/2 cup slivered almonds over the top of the jam layer. Bake in preheated oven until almonds are golden, about 20 minutes.

Let bars cool completely in pan, about two hours (I know this is very difficult because by this point the bars will smell amazing. But please wait, at least a little bit. I set mine on the concrete floor of the garage to speed up the process.) Carefully remove bars from pan using sling, cut into squares with a sharp knife, and serve. These squares are best eaten within 24 hours (trust me, not hard to do), but you can store them in the fridge for a few days too if you need to.