Maltese, Italian or British? This delightful tart is present in all the three countries tradition and it is known respectively as Torta tal-Lewż, Crostata Frangipane and Bakewell Tart.
This cake is friable tart filled with a delicious almond paste sitting onto a layer of strawberry jam.
This is my version of the recipe which in Malta is traditionally prepared and served for Easter.
Ingredients
For the pastry
For the almond paste filling
For the topping
Steps
– bring the butter to room temperature, then cut it in cubes;
– sift the flour into a large bowl;
– sift the icing sugar and the baking soda onto the flour and mix well;
– add the butter, the eggs, the pinch of salt and the lemon zest;
– knead well till with your hands till you get a dough (try to work the ingredient as quick as you can can);
– wrap the dough in some cling film and keep refrigerated for at least 2 hours;
– take a separate bowl where you will mix together all the ingredients for the filling (except for the jam);
– work the short pastry with a rolling pin to form a disc with a diameter of 28 centimeters and a half centimeters thickness;
– grease a 24cm baking tray for tarts and fold it with the pastry;
– remove any eventual excess of pastry from the edges;
– spread the jam on the bottom of the pastry;
– pour the filling (make sure the mixture reaches 1 cm below the edge) and decorate the edges with the almond flakes;
– bake at 170 degrees on the lower part of your oven for about 45 minutes or till golden;
– remove the cake form the oven and allow it to cool down onto a wire cooling rack;
– once cool, remove the cake from the mold and sprinkle with some icing sugar;
Varied doses for servings