If I’m going to go through the trouble of picking fresh berries—a popular pastime here in the Pacific Northwest—I’m not going to bake them into a pie. Berries are too precious to risk to pie. I am, however, perfectly willing to let someone else risk their berry haul—especially commercial jam makers.
Rather than asking the home cook to risk even a single berry, our Streusel-Topped Jam Tart leans on preserves for its fruity filling—and it delivers. Based on the rustic Italian crostata, it requires only 20 minutes of your attention and a few pantry staples, and transforms a cup and half of jam—any flavor—into a sticky, sweet fruit tart with a sandy, cookie-like crust.
I may never make pie dough again
Making your own pie dough is a worthy endeavor, but one that requires precision, care, time and attention. If you’re short on any of those things, consider pasta frolla, a quintessentially Italian pastry used as the rich, buttery base for all manner of cookies, pies and tarts. It’s a dead-simple dough made of flour, butter, sugar and salt, plus an egg to bind it all together.
It has more texture and flavor than traditional pie dough, with aromatic lemon zest and crunchy cornmeal, which gives it the flavor of a lightly sweet, lemony corn cookie with a texture that reminds me of a pecan sandie.
But my favorite thing about it is how easy it is to make: Dump your dry ingredients in a food processor with some lemon zest, whirr it around until fragrant—and it is a fantastic fragrance—then add cubes of cold butter, straight from the fridge, and process until the dough comes together. Instead of rolling it out, you press it directly into a tart pan. If you can mold Play-Doh, you can make this tart shell.
The dough also doubles as a streusel-like topping. Reserve about a cup of the mixture before making the tart shell, then smoosh and scatter it over the jam filling, punctuating it with little dumplings that are more tender than the crust, adding an extra dimension of texture without any extra work.
Jam tarts are always in season
Further streamlining this dessert is the filling, which is made with four ingredients: Your jam of choice, lemon juice and zest, and a little black pepper. The acidity cuts through any cloying notes in the jam, and the pepper adds a subtle savory note. It sounds weird, but it works. (Peppercorns are berries too, if you want to get technical.)
It’s fast and easy. You don’t have to wash, peel, or otherwise prep the fruit. And there’s no need to cook the jam before it goes into the shell; the jam is pre-concentrated, the excess moisture already driven off during the process of jam making.
In terms of flavors, it’s a choose-your-own-adventure kind of deal, though our kitchen favors cherry, seedless raspberry, and marmalade. I used the Bonne Maman Four Fruits, because I had recently purchased a large jar from Costco. It worked beautifully.
Beyond the ability to customize, this recipe offers year-round access to fruit tarts. Jam is always in season, so you can enjoy a strawberry tart in February, a cherry tart in March, or a blueberry tart whenever you please.
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.
And if you're looking for more Milk Street, check out our livestream cooking classes with our favorite chefs, home cooks and friends for global recipes, cooking methods and more.
