Grated Blackcurrant Jam Bars
Ingredients
4 servings
- For the dough
- Flour 4 cups (520 g)
- Butter 200 g
- Sugar 1 cup (180 g)
- Eggs 2
- Vanillin 1–2 g
- Baking powder ½ packet
- For the filling
- Blackcurrant jam 1 cup (260 g)
Step-by-step recipe
Shortcrust dough
Soften the butter a little: soften it, don’t melt it. Leave it at room temperature in the kitchen, or cut it into pieces and microwave for 10–15 seconds. It may start to run slightly on the surface. Mash it with a fork and it will turn creamy.
Mix the butter, vanillin and sugar. A mixer makes this easy. You’ll get a creamy mixture.
Add the eggs and mix again.
Be sure to sift the flour so there are no lumps or stray whole grains. Mix the sifted flour with half a packet of baking powder. Note: set aside ½ cup of the flour (65 g). You’ll need it later.
Add 3½ cups of flour (455 g) to the butter and sugar mixture and knead the dough thoroughly. If your mixer comes with spiral dough hooks, the job is as easy as it gets.
If you did everything right, the dough will be elastic and firm and won’t stick to the dough hooks or your hands. But don’t overwork it: stop as soon as the mixture is smooth. That keeps the shortcrust soft and tender.
They say shortcrust pastry should rest in the cold to mature. I don’t know, I haven’t tried. We use it without chilling, and the pie turns out delicious.
Divide the dough into two parts, roughly three to four.
Leave the larger part as it is, and add the remaining ½ cup of flour (65 g) to the smaller one and knead until smooth.
Assembling the pie
Line a baking sheet (about 30–35 cm) with parchment or baking paper. Put the larger piece of dough on the paper and, with dry hands, stretch it into a thin layer that covers the whole sheet. The dough should be no thicker than 15 mm. And, of course, don’t make it too thin either.
Open a jar of homemade blackcurrant jam. Of course, taste it first — there’s no way around that. Then spread all the jam over the dough. Don’t worry, it won’t be too much; most likely it won’t even be enough. Just kidding. It’ll be just right.
Roll the second part of the dough into a ball. Take an ordinary coarse grater and do what gave this pie its name: grate the dough and sprinkle it over the jam in an even layer.
Baking
Well, that’s it. All the hard work is behind us — let’s bake the pie.
Preheat the oven to 200 °C and bake for 20–25 minutes.
Cut the finished pie into diamonds with a sharp knife. Big or small — it’s up to you. After cutting, let it cool so the jam sets a little and doesn’t run.
As a result, you get two in one: those very Viennese cookies with jam, grated jam bars.
These shortcrust cookie bars with blackcurrant jam are insanely good with black tea or warm milk.
Calories and macros
1225 kcal
Serving ≈ 280 g
- Protein17 g6% of kcal
- Fat44 g33% of kcal
- Carbs185 g61% of kcal
100 g439 kcalProtein 6.2 gFat 15.9 gCarbs 66.5 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
To Get It Right
How much is a cup
The grated jam bars recipe uses a 200 ml glass: it holds 130 g of flour or 180 g of sugar. 4 cups of flour is 520 g. If your cup is bigger, you’ll end up with too much flour and a stiff dough. It’s safer to weigh the flour and add the last half cup gradually, until the dough stops sticking.
If the dough crumbles and breaks
The dough for grated jam bars isn’t rolled out — it’s stretched by hand right on the baking sheet, that’s the idea. If it crumbles, most likely there was too much flour or the butter was too cold. Better not to cut the butter — it’s what makes the dough pliable.
Which jam to use
Classic grated jam bars are made with tart blackcurrant jam, so the pie isn’t cloying. Any other sweet-and-sour jam works too — cherry, plum, apricot, raspberry, or fruit butter. The main thing is that it’s thick enough for a spoon to stand in. Runny jam can be thickened with starch: 1–2 tbsp (10–20 g) per cup.
For easier grating
Half a cup of flour (65 g) for grated jam bars is set aside precisely so the dough grates easily: with it, the smaller part of the dough gets firmer and doesn’t stick to your hands and the grater. Grating is even easier if you put the ball of dough in the freezer until it firms up.
With cottage cheese
For the pie, mash 250–300 g of cottage cheese with an egg and 2 tbsp of sugar (27 g), spread it over the dough, and put the jam on top. Bake a little longer, about 30–35 minutes, so the cheese layer sets.
Have your own trick for this recipe?
Questions and answers
How long to bake grated jam bars?
20–25 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 °C. If your baking sheet is smaller than 30–35 cm and the pie is thicker, bake about 5 minutes longer.
What size baking sheet do I need?
A regular oven baking sheet, about 30–35 cm. The dough is stretched over it by hand, no thicker than 15 mm.
Does the shortcrust dough need chilling?
No. They say shortcrust should rest in the cold, but in this recipe it’s used right away, and the pie turns out delicious.
Can I make grated jam bars with margarine?
Yes, margarine replaces butter one to one — the same 200 g. Use firm baking margarine sold in blocks, at least 72% fat. Soft tub margarine and spreads won’t work: they hold more water, so the dough turns sticky and is harder to grate. Soften the margarine just like butter, without melting it. The bars won’t taste of butter; the flavor comes from the vanilla and the jam.