Jam Pastafrola

📝 Ingredients

• 295 g plain flour (280 for the dough, 15 for the work surface)
• 60 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 60 ml rapeseed oil (about 55 g)
• 1 tsp baking powder (5 g)
• 1 unwaxed lemon (zest only)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 350 g apricot jam
• 1 tbsp semi-skimmed milk (for glazing)

🍴 Utensils

• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• 24 cm tart tin
• Rolling pin
• Baking paper
• Pastry brush

📖 Steps

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and the pinch of salt for 1 minute, until the mixture turns pale and slightly frothy. Finely grate the lemon zest over the top, avoiding the bitter white pith.
2. Pour in the oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly, for about 30 seconds. The mixture should be smooth and even, with no traces of oil on the surface: this is what gives an even shortcrust.
3. Mix 280 g of flour with the baking powder, then fold it in with the spatula in two goes, and finish by hand. Knead for barely 1 minute: the dough should be supple, barely sticky and come away from your fingers. Overworked, it would turn hard when baked.
4. Shape into a ball, cover the bowl and chill the dough for 30 minutes so it firms up and rolls out without sticking. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 °C and line the base of the tin with a disc of baking paper.
5. Set aside a third of the dough for the lattice. Roll out the rest between two sheets of baking paper to 4 mm thick, remove the top sheet, then flip the pastry into the tin. Press the pastry 2 cm up the sides and prick the base with a fork.
6. Stir the jam with a spoon to loosen it, then spread it in a nice even layer over the pastry base, without going over the edge. Avoid putting too much in the centre: a layer that's too thick bubbles up and overflows during baking.
7. Roll out the remaining dough to 4 mm thick on the work surface dusted with the 15 g of flour, and cut it into 1.5 cm wide strips. Lay them diagonally over the jam to form diamonds, then fold the edge over the ends, pressing to seal.
8. Brush the lattice and the edge with the spoonful of milk. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes on the middle shelf, until the pastry is light golden and the jam bubbles gently between the strips. If the edge browns too quickly, lower to 170 °C.
9. Leave the pastafrola to cool completely in the tin, for at least 1 hour: the jam firms up as it cools and the slices hold their shape. Then carefully remove from the tin and cut into 8 slices with a very sharp knife.