Pasta frola is a wonderful dessert made with a cookie-like shortbread crust and dulce de membrillo (quince paste) filling. Pasta frola is another example of the influence of Italian food on Argentinian and Uruguayan cuisine - its name comes from the Italian word for the shortbread crust, pasta frolla that is used to make Italian crostate (jam pies), but the filling is South American: usually quince paste or dulce de leche.
There's a saying in Argentina: Life is not a pasta frola. (La vida no es una pasta frola). Read more about that philosophy and pasta frola itself here, at the blog From Argentina with Love.Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: 1 9-inch tart
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 stick butter, chilled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup dulce de membrillo (quince paste), homemade or store-bought
- 1/4 cup pineapple preserves (optional)
- 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam (optional)
Preparation:
- Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar) together in a medium bowl.
- Cut the butter into pieces, and mix butter into dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, until well blended.
- Stir egg, egg yolk and milk together and add to flour mixture, blending gently with a fork until dough comes together. Knead a couple of times to just barely mix the dough, which should not be too crumbly nor too wet. If needed, add an extra tablespoon or so of flour or milk.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Add dulce de membrillo (and pineapple preserves and raspberry jam, if using) to a small pot, with 1-2 tablespoons of water. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture has melted enough to be smooth and have a spreadable consistency. (add a little more water if necessary). Remove from heat and let cool slighly.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9=unch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Roll out about 3/4 of the dough on a floured surface in a circle large enough to line the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Place the dough in the pan. Spread the filling evenly over the dough.
- Roll the remaining dough into a circle, and cut thin strips of dough, using them to make a lattice pattern over the top of the tart.
- Brush the tart lightly with an egg wash (1 egg thinned with 1 tablespoon water), and bake until golden brown (about 30 minutes).
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.
