{"id":26922,"date":"2020-09-07T19:03:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T17:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/?p=26922"},"modified":"2023-10-07T07:06:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T05:06:48","slug":"fig-crostata-with-pastry-cream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/fig-crostata-with-pastry-cream\/","title":{"rendered":"September, The Month of New Beginnings And Fig Crostata"},"content":{"rendered":"

I look at the bowl on the table and can’t wait to make the fig crostata, an appointment I look forward to every year in September.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

September has always been the month of new beginnings.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

And while I indulge in the memory of the beautiful things of summer, with the arrival of September I change step.<\/p>\n

In the month that holds the summer by the hand while winking at the autumn, the air becomes fresher and the days get shorter, I am taken by the need to plan my work and develop some new projects.<\/p>\n

As if the school bell kept ringing in the corridors calling everyone to their duties. After all, even as the years go by, at the school of life you are always a student and you never stop learning.<\/p>\n

Apropos of school of life, after the cataclysm caused by the health emergency, I remembered, more than learned, how precarious our projects are.<\/p>\n

At a certain point, we all thought that we could plan and foresee everything, almost as if our lives were ordered pages of an agenda. The slightest setback was a great annoyance. Taken from our hybris<\/em> we didn’t even consider that something could go wrong.<\/p>\n

Personally I do not believe in divine punishment or adverse fate. We had gone a bit further, anyway. The pandemic is the “X factor”, an unforeseen, to say the least, unwieldy event.
\nAfter wiping out lives and projects, it continues to create uncertainty.<\/p>\n

I am trying to treasure this experience.
\nThings must not happen in vain.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Maybe it’s too early to look away. Even a year from now seems to be an imponderable time. And perhaps part of the lesson to be learned is right here. Of course, I try to focus on new directions and to understand how the pandemic will change the world I know.<\/p>\n

But apart from that, I have chosen a basic approach.
\nI focus on short-term projects. I spend more time with the people I love. I engage the everyday with work that gives meaning to my days while I open, here and there, little windows on the future.<\/p>\n

\"Figs<\/p>\n

\"A.<\/p>\n

Little projects to stay well today.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Time for me.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I would like my days to start earlier. Not having a biological alarm clock naturally set on dawn, I look for inspiration in the manifesto dedicated to the importance of the morning and the silent and muffled hours that precede the beginning of the noises of everyday life.<\/p>\n

If you think it might interest you, the title of Allan Jenkins’ book is Morning. How to Make Time: A Manifesto<\/em> (4th ESTATE, London).<\/p>\n

Cooking classes.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Following cooking classes is an essential part of my learning path. I was born a home cook, and putting order between the things I learned is as important as learning technical notions and terms. After many courses and a lot of work, I was delighted to join the Professional Association of Italian Chefs.<\/p>\n

Waiting to find a baking course suitable for my needs, I want to open again my kitchen to those who want to cook with me.<\/p>\n

\"Fig<\/p>\n

A fig crostata with pastry cream.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, this cake is one of my September projects.
\nHow much I love the taste of this crostata I make every year.<\/p>\n

The dough is traditional and, above all, thin. In this way, it is a sort of edible box, slightly crunchy, of the principal ingredients of this dessert, both soft, which are figs and pastry cream.<\/p>\n

After having made the sweet and enjoyed a slice, I felt the benefit of having already put one of the goals of September on the net. Planning and carrying out a project, even a small one, has improved my mood and certainly the day.<\/p>\n

The well-being effect is guaranteed until the last bite of the cake.<\/p>\n

Good new beginning to what you want, Monica<\/p>\n

Blog’s Links.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Many of my first memories of cooking are linked to the custard. It is a basic recipe that is used to make many cakes and, I think, it’s a simple a dessert that needs to be rediscovered. Below you will find the procedure but if you want to read some tricks and tips seasoned with a handful of memories, you can click on the link to the Italian Homemade Pastry Cream Recipe<\/a> (which I make with flour, which I make with flour, as my grandma made and as Italian master pastry chef Gino Fabbri taught me).<\/p>\n

You will find the list of beautiful things I will remember this summer in the post with the recipe of the peach amaretti cake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keep in Touch<\/strong><\/h6>\n

If you like, you can follow me on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Pinterest<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Figs<\/p>\n

Food Tips<\/strong><\/h5>\n

With a mold of 14cm diameter, you will have leftovers of shortcrust pastry that you can use to make cookies. I leave you with a very quick idea to make: roll out the shortbread, add chocolate chips, close the shortbread on itself, press with your hands or a rolling pin, cut into squares and bake in the preheated oven. Or wrap the dough in film and store in the freezer for later use.<\/p>\n

Choose a good fig jam or cook about 20 figs, apart from those used for decoration, with a spoonful of sugar for about ten minutes until soft and creamy.<\/p>\n

Fresh Fig Crostata with Pastry Cream Recipe<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

serves 4-6
\nmould, diameter 14cm
\nIngredients<\/p>\n

\n

For the base:<\/p>\n

120 g flour 00
\n60 g brown sugar
\n70 g butter chunks, for refrigerator
\na small egg
\njust a pinch of yeast and a pinch of salt
\none teaspoon of natural vanilla extract<\/p>\n

For the pastry cream<\/p>\n

25 g flour
\n50 g sugar
\n2 yolks
\n250 ml milk
\npinch of salt<\/p>\n

about 15 ripe figs, little ones
\n250 g fig jam or fresh figs peeled and cooked for two minutes in a non-stick frying pan<\/p>\n

\n

Directions<\/p>\n

\n
Shortcrust Dough.<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, add egg and cold butter chunks and knead the ingredients until smooth and compact.
\nWrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The dough should be firm and compact, allowing time for the butter to firm up again.<\/p>\n

Pastry Cream.<\/strong><\/h6>\n

In a saucepan, mix the egg yolks and sugar with a hand whisk.<\/p>\n

Add the sifted flour to the eggs and sugar, stirring with a whisk and then slowly pour half a liter of whole milk \u2013 warm or room temperature \u2013 into the mixture (I never heat it, I always use room temperature milk and, sometimes, also cold).<\/p>\n

Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil over medium-low heat.<\/p>\n

Once mixture begins to separate from sides of pan, remove it from heat, cover the surface of the hot custard with cling film in contact with the cream or brush a piece of butter over the still warm surface of the cream.<\/p>\n

Figs.<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Choose figs of the same size to decorate the cake.<\/p>\n

Gently wash the fruit, remove the skin and open each fig in half. I know that peeling figs will break a little, especially if they are very ripe (and I suggest you choose ripely). The same, I prefer that the peel don’t touch the top of the cake. Seeing a guest disassembling the cake to remove the peel, I suppose it isn’t what you hope.<\/p>\n

Make the crostata!<\/strong><\/h5>\n

On a floured work surface or between two sheets of parchment paper, roll out the dough to about 4-5 mm thick. Work it quickly so dough remains cold.<\/p>\n

Cover the mould with wet and squeezed baking paper, transfer the dough to the pan gently.<\/p>\n

Option 1.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Prick the base of the dough all over with a fork, then line with parchment paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind in preheated oven (180C degrees) for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 until the pastry is golden. Leave the pastry case to cool slightly before filling.<\/p>\n

Option 2.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Cover the bottom of the base with a layer of fig jam. Add the cream until it fills the crostata (as I did in the photos below the recipe), and bake in a preheated oven at 180C degrees for about 30 minutes. Check and when the cream begins to take color, remove from the oven.<\/p>\n

Leave to cool before to decorate with fresh figs.<\/p>\n

\"Shortcrust<\/p>\n

\"Shortcrust<\/p>\n

\"Shortcrust<\/p>\n

\"Pastry
Before baking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pastry
After baking.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I look at the bowl on the table and can’t wait to make the fig crostata, an appointment I look forward to every year in September. September has always been the month of new beginnings. And while I indulge in the memory of the beautiful things of summer, with the arrival of September I change…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2033,2040,2129,2034,2031],"tags":[2157,2156,2171],"class_list":["post-26922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses","category-desserts","category-fruits-en","category-ingredients","category-recipes","tag-autumn","tag-summer","tag-sweets"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_2220.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26922"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38924,"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26922\/revisions\/38924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}