Jam tart: 6 tips for a perfect result

As soon as it comes out of the oven, it fills our homes with perfume and every bite is a real explosion of taste. We are talking about the jam tart, a classic dessert that is always loved by everyone. Have you decided to make it at home? Follow our 6 tips and you will get a perfect result.

It's the real Sunday dessert, that dessert that you grandma always prepare for you just like a real ritual: the tart, a wonderful culinary invention. A fragrant and golden shortcrust pastry, with a delicate jam filling: preparing a perfect tart seems simple but, as always happens in the kitchen, there are small rules that must be always respected and some tips to follow, so let's see together which ones.

1. Shortcrust pastry

Let's start from the base: if you make a bad shortcrust pastry you can also say goodbye to your tart, but making it right is simpler than it seems.

Butter: it must be very cold, take it out of the refrigerator only when you start your preparation;

A pinch of salt, never forget it among the ingredients;

Processing time: short but intense, the ingredients must be processed as little as possible to prevent the butter from heating up and the shortcrust pastry from spoiling.

Leave it to rest in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, for 30 minutes.

Roll it out with a rolling pin, the thickness must not exceed one centimeter.

Keep a small portion aside (putting it back in the refrigerator) for later decoration.

2. Make small holes in the bottom

Once you have spread your shortcrust pastry, take a fork and, with the prongs, perforate the bottom: it seems an operation of little importance but in reality it prevents the shortcrust pastry from swelling during cooking. In fact, the bubbles could ruin the tart and compromise its uniform cooking.

3. The jam

Not too much, but not too little either. After having softened it in the jar mixing it with a spoon, pour the jam on the spread out shortcrust pastry and start to spread it: the layer must be uniform and must not reach the edge, leaving a space of at least half a centimeter. If you overdo it, the jam will overflow during cooking and invade the decoration: of course, nothing serious, but even the eye wants its part.

4. Decoration

Making the tart a triumph of geometries always gives a certain satisfaction, we must admit it. Remember that portion of dough that in point 1 we recommended to put back in the refrigerator? Well, its time has come: take it back and roll it out, then with a cutter divide it into strips about one and a half centimeters thick. If they are not cold, put them back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. After the necessary time has passed, take the strips again and spread the first ones about two or three centimeters apart, making the ends adhere well to the edge of the tart. Repeat the operation with other strips, overlapping them with the first ones but positioning them in the opposite direction. Remove excess dough from the edges.

5. Rest

Your tart is ready but please wait a moment longer: for a perfect result, before going to be baked in the oven, your tart will have to rest in the refrigerator – raw – for other 20 minutes. Resting will allow the tart to keep its shape intact and to be evenly baked.

6. Temperature and cooking

We have done well so far, so let's not ruin everything by mistaking the temperature of the oven. Turn the oven on at 180 degrees C and let it warm up, place the tart on the medium shelf and cook in static mode for the first 10 minutes then lower the temperature to 175 degrees C and finish cooking for 25-30 minutes. When the surface starts to brown, turn off the oven, take the tart out and let it cool for 1 or 2 hours before serving.