Crostata di Marmellata (gluten-free)

So, we’re having a pie-off at the lab.

I have never made a pie before, let alone a gluten-free one (although, it might make it easier since I can’t overwork the gluten). I’ve decided to make a crostata di marmellata as I’ve been wanting to make one ever since the (ex)boyfriend brought me back preserves from Italy (I have a thing for preserves/jams). I’ve found a number of sites across the web with pasta frolla recipes (the shell) & ended up adapting this one to make it gluten-free using Pamela’s Bread mix (stay with me here). The bread mix already has xanthan gum, a little bit of sugar & some salt in it plus the flour, so I just added more sugar & the wet ingredients. Anyway, it turned out delicious, so I thought I’d share.

Crostata di Marmellata (gluten-free)
Ingredients:
Pasta Frolla
200 g Pamela’s Bread Mix
35 g coconut flour
80 g powdered sugar
115 g (1 stick) butter
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs (I used 1/3 cup egg substitute–essentially fancy egg beaters)

Filling
1 jar of preserves/jam (for this test crostata I used a 9 oz. jar of cranberry/raspberry preserves, will use the Italian preserves for the competition pie :))

Directions:
I followed the directions on the link above almost exactly, so I’ve copied them almost exactly below…

Whisk together sugar and flours in a bowl.
Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.
Heat the oven to 375ºF [190ºC/gas mark 5].
Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.
I kept the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap for rolling out and didn’t add any additional flour.
Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.
Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.
Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.
Take out of the fridge the reserved pasta frolla you had cut away earlier. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes (this is not traditional, but it looks cute); or roll with your hands into ropes.
Spread the jam or fruit preserves evenly over the bottom of the crostata. I then folded down the edges to meet the filling as my pie tin is kind of tall.
Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes.
Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can add a drop or two of water to the beaten eggs if you don’t have enough liquid.
Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, check the tart and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue. (Note: Every oven is different. In my oven it took 33 minutes to bake the tart until golden.)
When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.