Marmalade Tart

The part of Barcelona I am living in is more built-up; really not much natural beauty left...

But the town authority is so thoughtful; almost all alleyways are planted with fruit trees, like tangerine, orange and lemon. The authority also makes sure that every single tree is well trimmed, and no single rotten fruit lays on the ground.

Many trees are so close to apartment blocks. Practically the residents can reach the fruit from balcony. I wonder if they would make their own marmalade then...

I live in a very high floor; I have to buy my own marmalade...

The crust is Italian-style crostata, supposed to be very sweet. For pursuing a healthier eating habbit, I have cut down the sugar. It is sweet enough, but is still rich due to a high portion of butter and eggs.

The dough is very tender; good thing is rolling becomes so easy. But the dough will turn sticky quick (due to a lot of butter), so please do the cutting and fitting fast. Always lightly floured your hands should help too.

Recipe of marmalade tart

yield two 8" standard tarts or approx. 10 small tartlets, lattice top included

• superb quality of marmalade, made from organic fruit
• for the crust:
• 300 g flour
• 160 g butter, cold, and cubed
• 90 g sugar
• a small pinch of salt
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk (only)
• 1 Tbp cold water
• a bit lemon zest

How-to

• Pre-greased and lightly floured the pans. The 8" one should have a removable bottom.
• Pre-heat oven to medium/medium-high, about 180
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg, the yolk and a table spoon of water. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, lemon zest and sugar.
• Use a pastry blender, cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture until the whole content has a texture similar to very coarse corn meal. Combine with the egg mixture and form a smooth dough (Kneading briefly may be necessary, but must not over-do it otherwise the butter will start melting).
• Divide into three doughs, wrap each with clingwrap and rest them in fridge for half day.
• Roll out each dough to 1/4"-thick or less. Cut to fit your pan's size. If you make 8" tarts, two doughs go for the bottom crust. The last dough is for cutting to long strips.
• Fit each pan with bottom crust, fill with a thin layer of marmalade, arrange long strips on top or create lattice top if you like.
• Bake the tarts until they turn golden brown, time is various to the size. For the big one may take 30 mins, the small 20 mins.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------