Recipes by Zola - Berry Jam Cookie Tart

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Berry Jam Cookie Tart

Zola Gorgon

"Ciao Babe!"

This trip to Europe was so amazing; I don't know where to start.

Some of you will want to know the itinerary and highlights of the places we visited.

Some of you will want to know how my back held up on such a long trip and how I coped.

Some of you will be most interested in the food stories.

I'll start with the itinerary so you have a point of reference. Then I'll probably tell stories about the trip in the next few weeks of columns.

We started with a business trip in England. I wrote weeks ago about the costume party we were to attend and how I was going as Cruella DeVille and my husband went as Bruce Willis. It was hilarious. Everyone just stared at us and smiled, as we walked around the ballroom arm in arm. My free, gloved hand, of course held the long cigarette holder and a huge piece of fake "bling" on my finger. A massive yellow rock. My husband was spot on with his newly shaved head and a cream-colored dinner jacket. With sunglasses added, a perfect, formal Bruce Willis appeared. My flowing red cape over a black outfit worked splendidly as Cruella. You can't miss when you are wearing a wild wig that's half black and half white. Those that knew us laughed hysterically. It was well worth the effort.

Saturday morning we flew from England to Italy and landed in Genoa. The transfer to the ship was an easy cab ride. Well, from my perspective it was easy. My husband would probably tell a different story because he was the one in charge of maneuvering all of our bags. We each had one fairly large wheeled case and a carry on. And my purse. I was allowed to carry my purse and nothing else. We didn't want to risk me losing my back. He was a prince about the whole thing.

The cruise turned out to be the perfect way to travel. That way, our bags were in one place and we could keep traveling. 7 days of cruising in the best weather I could have possibly imagined. Every day held sunshine and balmy temperatures. Never too hot, never too cold.

We cruised the western coast of Italy and beyond. We started in Genoa with stops in Livorno, Salerno, Sicily, Malta and Tunisia. Then it was back to Italy with two more stops in Olbia and Sardinia.

The two big surprises for me were Malta and Sardinia. Malta is not a place I would have ever put on my list of places to see. I now consider it a jewel and a destination location. (More to come on that topic.) Sardinia was beautiful. I'd say it is a combination of Napa Valley and the Southwestern US combined. We got to see where and why people like Bill Gates cruise around the island on their mega yachts. I get it now.

Now on to the recipe...

Several countries in Europe are renowned for their pastries. You could spend your entire day in almost any city in Italy just drooling at the window displays in the pastry shops.

When I got back I had a hankering for a tart. I decided to turn a sort of linzer cookie recipe into one large tart. It makes a great, easy dessert for friends and family. Don't expect this to mimic a linzer tart. I didn't even put the lattice crust on top. I just left it plain. It's cakey- crunchy like a good cookie too.

Berry Jam Cookie Tart

3/4 cup of butter softened
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp dried lemon peel or fresh zest
2 cups of white flour
1 Tbl of almond extract
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/8 tsp of ground cloves
12 oz of berry jam. I used raspberry but you could use any berry jam. Blackberry would be great too. Don't use jelly. Use pure jam.

In a large mixing bowl add all ingredients except for the jam. Stir with a wooden spoon until you have completely mixed your dough. It will be slightly wet.

You'll need a tart pan with a removable bottom (10 inch). I used a fluted one so the finished tart looked a little fancier.

Grease the bottom and sides of the pan with butter spray. Put your dough in the pan. You are going to spread the dough across the bottom and up the sides of the pan. The easiest way I find to do this is to spread a sheet of cling wrap over the dough and then press down on the sheet so the dough squishes where you want it. This keeps the dough from sticking to your fingers. You can maneuver the sheet and the dough around. After you have it spread across the tart pan you want to press the sides up so the whole tart has a rim. This means the dough on the bottom of the pan will be at a lower level than the dough on the sides. The edge will be about 1" thick on the sides. This gives a nice rim around the top and a place for the jam to set inside.

Now spread your jam across the bottom of the tart, inside the rim. Spread gently with the back of a spoon so you can get a fairly uniform surface.

Bake the tart at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. The tart will be lightly browned on the edges. The edges will be fairly rigid. The jam might be a bit runny. Don't worry. Just lift the tart out carefully and set it on a hard surface to cool. As the jam cools the pectins that make jam cling together will kick back in and the filling in your tart will set up.

Cut into wedges and serve at room temperature. Simple pleasure.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.

This news arrived on: 05/15/2008

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