Pasta Flora! Just hearing the name makes some people think of the much-loved jam tart, while I immediately think of the incomparable Mary Aroni in the classic Greek film A Crazy, Crazy Family. Two classic and beloved Pasta Floras, each with a sweetness of her own!

The one we are making today, of course, is the buttery tart filled with delicious jam and decorated with its characteristic lattice of pastry strips. Whenever I make it, I remember being little with my sisters, when our mother would give us pieces of dough and let us shape the strips ourselves. It was a small family ritual that made this simple homemade dessert even more special!

🎬 Watch the full recipe video on YouTube and subscribe to my channel for more delicious recipes!
English subtitles are available.

🛒Ingredients

• 🧈 250 g butter
• 🥣 1/2 cup sugar (100 g)
• 🌾 3 cups flour (375 g)
• 🥚 1 egg
• 🥄 1 tsp baking powder
• 🍋 1 Tbsp lemon or orange zest
• 🥃 4 Tbsp brandy (60 ml)
• 🌼 2 sachets vanilla powder
• 🍑 1 cup peach or apricot jam

👩‍🍳Instructions

Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly. Separate the egg, placing the yolk and egg white in different bowls. Use a little of the melted butter to grease the pan.

Sift the flour, baking powder and vanilla powder into a large bowl. Add the remaining melted butter, sugar, egg yolk, brandy and lemon or orange zest, and mix well.

Knead until you have a soft, smooth dough. Divide the dough into two portions. Roll out one portion and place it in the greased pan, covering the bottom.

Take a piece from the second portion of dough and shape it into a rope about the thickness of your finger. Place it around the edge of the base.

Blend the jam in a food processor until smooth and easier to spread. Spread it evenly over the pastry base. Shape the remaining dough into ropes of the same thickness and arrange them in a crisscross pattern over the jam to create the characteristic lattice top of Pasta Flora.

Brush the pastry ropes with the egg white and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C (340°F) for 30–40 minutes, until the pastry is beautifully golden.

From My Experience…

🔸 In most Pasta Flora recipes, the ingredients are added gradually and the dough needs to rest in the refrigerator. In my mother’s recipe, you simply sift the dry ingredients together, add all the remaining ingredients and knead. The dough can be shaped immediately, without any chilling time, and the result is excellent.

🔸 Don’t worry if one of the pastry ropes breaks while you are shaping or arranging it. Simply join the two pieces together; they will fuse as the tart bakes, and the join will not be visible.

And if you love sweet tarts, try this wonderful honey and walnut tart.

Enjoy!

Nanà…✍️