Pasta Frolla
4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup cold water

For Crema Pasticcera filling
4 egg yolks, beaten
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

1/3 cup sour black cherry jam "Amarene"

For eggwash
1 egg yolk, beaten

Equipment needed: well-greased pie pan about 10 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches deep

For crema pasticcera

Beat egg yolks.

Add vanilla if using.

And sugar till frothy (not creamy) -- about 1 minute.

Add flour, beat well.

Mix in lemon zest.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, to just before the boiling point -- about 8 minutes (Should have the look of a custard).

Remove from heat, continue stirring while its cooling -- about 2 minutes.

Put aside.



Preheat oven to 350 F. degrees.



For pastry dough

Mix flour, sugar and pinch of salt together.

Cut butter into flour mixture till resemble coarse crumbs.

Mix egg yolks and water together.

Mix dry ingredients with wet ones and work into a malleable soft dough.

Divide into 2 portions, one bigger than the other.

Shape into balls.

Wrap with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for about 1/2 hour.

Using rolling pin roll the larger portion of dough out to about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Line pie crust in well-greased pan.

Fill with crema pasticcera.

Dot with the black sour cherry jam, placing the dots strategically so that each piece has some of the jam when cut.

Roll out remaining dough and cut out strips.

Make a lattice topping.

Brush the top with the beaten egg yolk.

Bake the pie until golden -- about 45 minutes to 55 minutes.

Keep in fridge till needed.

Serve at room temperature.

The recipe in this entry was adapted from "Southern Italian Cooking" by Valentina Harris (London: Pavilion Books, 1993). The book can be borrowed for free at the on-line public library, www.openlibrary.org.... Valentina Harris' "Southern Italian Cooking" is one of the few Italian cookbooks written in English that includes recipes from Molise. Generally, most cookbook writers, put Molise and Abruzzo together; this is not all that surprising as Molise was part of Abruzzo until 1963. The region became independent in 1963.... Having been born in Molise it's heartwarming to see traditional recipes from this area cataloged and made available to a large North American public. Despite the fact that Molise is a very tiny region with less than half a million inhabitants, its cuisine is quite varied. Towns and villages have their own unique ways of preparing classic dishes. Actually, some dishes are only made in certain towns and villages. Each little town and village in Molise seems to be a little country on its own -- with its own language and culinary history. My family is from Casacalenda; no one I know has ever heard of the recipe in this entry. The cookbook author acknowledges "Bum" is a rather strange name for a dessert and yet the locals (possibly in the city of Campobasso?) seem to call it by this name (Possibly the word might be Molisani dialect for "bombe or bomba" as a number of modern-day Italian desserts are called "bombe or bomba" but that's only speculation on my part). It wouldn't surprise me if this tart is a modern-day adaptation of the more traditional "ceppelliate" or "cippillati" which is a miniature tart filled with custard and sour black cherry jam (for recipe see Italy Revisited/Calconi). There are many new recipes that became popular in Molise post World War II; as the recipes are over 50 years old, the new generation simply assumes they are "traditional" and it's hard to argue they are not when they've been around for half a century. I can't be sure if this is the case for "BUM," all I do know is that whatever dessert recipes were made prior to the 1950s, generally were associated with some kind of religious holiday or festivity. Back then all the basic ingredients, including eggs and sugar, cost a great deal of money, and most households simply avoided making use of them. Anyway, I tried the recipe and to my delight it was very good. I didn't use the recipe for the pasta frolla the author suggested in her book, nor did I use the recipe she suggested for the crema pasticcera filling. I used easier versions. Basically any pasta frolla pie crust can be used, and any recipe for crema pasticcera can be used as well. I definitely would have liked to use sour black cherry jam from Molise as it is one of the best in the world (Having had the pleasure of receiving it as a gift, and having devoured it straight from the jar almost in one sitting, I say this from experience rather than from mere nationalist fervor.). Unfortunately, sour black cherry "amarene" jam from Molise is not available in North America. Personally, I find the sour black cherry jams that are available in my Montreal neighborhood far too sweet and I don't really like them all that much. Still, when the sour black cherry jam is mixed with the Italian lemon-flavored custard, it's O.K. Apparently, in Molise, sour black cherry trees are so plentiful most residents there make their own jam. How nice that must be! Actually, I hadn't expected to like this pie, but I did. I had wrongly assumed that "crema pasticcera" should not be baked (Generally it is not baked, it's used to layer cakes and pastries). Still, baking "crema pasticcera," Italian custard, is not all that new if I stop and think about it. Pellegrino Artusi has a recipe for this style of crema pasticcera-jam pie in his book which was published in 1891! It appears then that this style of pie is popular throughout Italy, and each region in Italy possibly uses the fruit jam that is most specific to its local. If one likes Italian custard-filled pies, this recipe is certainly worth a try. Personal comments and photo: Mary Melfi.

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