Pasta Flora (Apricot Pie)
Anahid Emirzian’s classic recipe. Pasta Flora is a classic Greek dessert – a jam tart with a lattice top. It is relatively easy and quick to make.
Pasta Flora (Apricot Pie)
A flan style pie topped with apricot jam
Ingredients
- 250 grams unsalted butter
- 215 grams caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons brandy
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 300 grams self-raising flour
- 220 grams plain flour
Topping
- 500 grams apricot jam
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 teaspoon water
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, brandy and vanilla essence and beat again until mixture is well creamed.250 grams unsalted butter, 215 grams caster sugar, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons brandy, 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- Add plain flour and self-raising flour and mix well again – it will form a dough like consistency.300 grams self-raising flour, 220 grams plain flour
- Grease and flour (or line bottom with baking paper) a 25 cm round pie dish or a springform cheesecake tin.
- Take around 90-100 grams of the dough and roll this out into one long strand around 0.5 cm thick. This is going to be placed around the edge of the pie. Refrigerate while continuing with the next steps.
- Take 160 grams of the dough and roll into strands around 0.5 cm thick. For a 25 cm pie dish you will need 10 strands – as the dish is round, the centre strands will be longer and the side strands will be shorter to form a lattice. Doing this on a flat dinner plate makes it easier to estimate how much you need for the length of the strands. Refrigerate while continuing with the next steps.
- While the strands are refrigerating, crush any chunks in the apricot jam with a fork and stir topping ingredients together. Combine well. Around 10 – 20 seconds in the microwave may make this easier.500 grams apricot jam, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 1 teaspoon water
- Place the remaining dough in the greased pie dish and press to flatten evenly.
- Place the long strand in a circle around the edge of the pie. Press down very gently – enough to seal the sides only.
- Avoiding the edges, pour the apricot jam mixture into the centre of the pie and spread evenly.
- Take the refrigerated strands and give them a quick roll now that they are a little stronger to make sure they are smooth. You may need to add some plain flour to this dough to make it strong enough to shape.
- Place a strand across the middle (diameter) of the pie. Then add two strands on each side (at equal distances) of the centre strand. There should be 5 strands all running the same way.Repeat this with another 5 strands at right angles to the first five strands – allow each strand some slack as you place them over the first lot of strands, so that these top strands do not break as they cook. The shortest four strands should form a square..
- Bake in a moderate oven at 180°C or 160°C fan forced for 45-50 minutes, or until the lattice is golden brown and the apricot jam has caramelised a little.
Notes
Try using your own apricot jam for this recipe!
After making this dish, we’ve updated it to include the strand around the edge of the pie.
Nutrition
Calories: 295kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 4gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 18mgPotassium: 56mgFibre: 1gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 388IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 1mg
