Festa Italiana - Crostata di Fichi Freschi (Fresh Fig Crostata)

Maryann from Finding La Dolce Vita and Marie of Proud Italian Cook are hosting Festa Italiana, a great new blogging event which celebrates Italian food and beverages. As the name of this event suggests, Maryann and Marie want us to join them at the long table at sunset on a summer's evening, the atmosphere filled with music and good company, by making and posting about our favourite Italian food and drink.

Consistent with my love of dessert, I have chosen to bring along a Fresh Fig Crostata. I have never previously made this dish, but I was curious about it after seeing Jamie Oliver's version in a newspaper article. As I didn't have Jamie's recipe, I used the recipe found here. The only changes that I made to the recipe were to substitute the orange zest for lemon zest, and to replace the Grand Marnier with Marsala. I also skipped the candied peel.

This recipe required careful concentration, as the sugar measurements are not divided between the tart shell, pastry cream and syrup until you get to the method (I had to throw out my first attempt at the pastry because I added all 2 cups of sugar to the pastry - don't try this at home folks!), nor does it clearly spell out that the components of the dish are a tart shell plus a pastry cream decorated with figs that are topped with candied peel and syrup. For this reason, I don't agree with this recipe's 5 star rating.

Despite my initial disaster with the pastry, I was pleased with the end result - this is a very grown up, pretty looking dessert.

Thanks to Maryann and Marie for hosting this event, and I look forward to the roundup.