Feed your sweet tooth

Feed your sweet tooth

There’s no doubt that Italians have a sweet tooth, particularly when it comes to starting the day. Take a glance at the offerings behind the glass counter at your local bar or pastry shop: cornetti (sweet and fluffy rather than buttery and flaky croissants), berry or apricot jam

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Thu 20 Jun 2013 12:00 AM

There’s no doubt that Italians have a sweet tooth, particularly when it comes to starting the day. Take a glance at the offerings behind the glass counter at your local bar or pastry shop: cornetti (sweet and fluffy rather than buttery and flaky croissants), berry or apricot jam crostata, cut into large squares or made into mini tarts, perhaps some bomboloni (doughnuts) filled with jam or custard, even sticky, flaky, caramelised-bottomed sfoglie or powdery millefoglie of puff pastry.

 

Colazione all’italiana, the ritual breakfast at an Italian bar, is an integral part of the Italian lifestyle—one that is easy to get hooked on, with a pastry or a small panino and a coffee, consumed in a matter of minutes while standing at the counter, powdered sugar falling over your clothes. At home, colazione is just as sweet, with a typical start to the day consisting of biscotti or perhaps packets of cornetti or bone-dry fette biscottate (rusks) lathered in jam and dunked in an oversized cup of steaming caffè latte.

 

Interestingly, Italians did not always eat like this. Breakfast habits were quite different a century ago, when this typically sweet breakfast would be followed in the mid-morning with something savoury and protein packed. Those who had a day of physical work ahead of them, such as farmers, would have a breakfast like their dinner: leftover meat, soup, bread and wine.

 

If you are going to eat sweets for breakfast, here is a suggestion for something homemade with fresh fruit, eggs, and perhaps a bit less sugar: crostatine di ciliegie, little cherry tarts. You do not need any fancy equipment to make these little tarts, just a muffin tray and a cookie cutter. The pastry recipe here is inspired by pasta frolla by the 19th-century food author, Pellegrino Artusi. For the filling, make a fresh fruit compote, free of sugar, by taking advantage of the natural sweetness of ripe, seasonal fruit—in this case, lusciously sweet, dark cherries. If you must use jam, go for a cherry jam, such as organic Rigoni di Asiago Fiordifrutta cherry jam, to make these in a pinch.

 

 

RECIPE

 

Crostatine di ciliegie (Little cherry tarts)

Makes 8–10 crostatine

 

Ingredients

For the pastry

125 g cold butter

250 g flour

50 g caster (superfine) sugar

Lemon zest

1 large beaten egg

For the cherry compote:

500 g dark cherries

Some water

 

Preparation

To make the pastry, chop the cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour and sugar. You can do this quickly in a food processor. Otherwise, with your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until you get a crumbly mixture and there are no more visible pieces of butter. Mix in the lemon zest and beaten egg until the pastry comes together to form a smooth, elastic ball. Let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, even the day before.

 

In the meantime, prepare the cherry compote by pitting the fresh cherries and placing in a pot with a little water (about an inch or so deep). Heat gently and allow to simmer until the cherries are soft and have made a ‘juice’—you want it jammy, not watery, but you will want to watch the pot carefully so as not to reduce this juice too much and lose it or burn it! Set aside to cool.

 

Roll out about three-quarters of the pastry and with a round cookie cutter or egg ring, cut out circles to fit into a muffin tray. Roll out the rest of the pastry to make strips, about 1cm wide to create a lattice for the top of your tarts. Fill the tarts with the cherry compote and place your lattice strips over the top. Brush some egg yolk over the lattice for some shine if you like. Bake at 180ºC for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

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