Gobeletti

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PRESENTATION

Gobeletti are these super tasty treats, kinda like a little trip to Liguria, especially around the beautiful provinces of Genoa and Savona. You know, these Italian jam-filled pastries have a thing with the area—originally made for the feast of Sant'Agata. Now, though, they are a year-round hit in bakeries all over Liguria. The crumbly shortcrust hides this sweet surprise—usually quince jam. But hey, sometimes you'll find apricot or plum jam versions around different parts.

Thing is, traditionally, gobeletti were made using these double metal molds—one side's a cone, and the other's like a hat. That's where "gobeletti" gets its name in the Ligurian dialect. Today, folks might just use regular tartlet molds, but that golden hat shape? Still a classic. If you're into shortcrust pastry cookies or love traditional Italian desserts, you'll get why these cookies have been loved forever. I mean, really really cozy and nostalgic—they taste like they came straight from grandma's kitchen.

All over Liguria, people go for gobeletti because of their moist, jam-filled centers. Perfect match with the tender, sandy dough. Every bakery might throw in its own spin: some go for apricot jam pastries for that bit of tangy kick, while others stick with the quince jam, giving you that real taste of the region’s rich history. It's like, biting into a Ligurian gobeletti feels like a little party. Maybe it's because they were once special-occasion treats, but now they bring a sense of everyday comfort.

Even outside Italy, when you nibble on these Ligurian jam tart cookies, you get a taste of the Riviera's pastry heritage. So here's the thing: the simple shape, the soft filling, and that familiar jam flavor just work. Known as "cubeletti" in dialect, these pastries show off the timeless charm of Italian pastry recipes—super easy to love, really easy to share, and always a bit special. Seriously good.

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INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for 8 gobeletti
Type 00 flour 2 cups (250 g)
Butter 5.3 oz (150 g) - cold
Sugar ¼ cup (50 g)
Egg yolks 1 ½ tbsp (20 g) - (about 1)
for filling and garnishing
Apricot jam ½ cup (150 g)
Powdered sugar to taste
Preparation

How to prepare Gobeletti

To make gobeletti, start with the shortcrust pastry: in a bowl, pour the flour and cold butter in pieces 1. Crumble the mixture with your fingers 2 and then add the sugar 3.

and the egg yolk 4. Continue kneading by hand until all the ingredients are combined 5, then transfer the dough to a work surface 6 and form it into a dough ball.

Wrap the dough with plastic wrap 7. Place the dough in the fridge for about an hour. Take the dough, place it on a lightly floured surface, and roll it out with a rolling pin to about 0.2 inches thick 8. Using a scalloped cutter with a diameter of 3.5 inches, cut out 8 circles 9.

With another scalloped cutter with a diameter of 2.4 inches, cut out another 8 circles 10. Brush 8 aluminum tartlet molds with a diameter of 2.75 inches 11 and line them internally with a 3.5-inch dough disk 12;

press well on the edges and bottom to adhere the dough 13. Fill the pastries with one and a half teaspoons of jam 14 and close them with the smaller circles 15.

Seal the edges well by applying slight pressure to ensure closure 16. Place the pastries on a baking tray 17 and bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F for about 30 minutes in the middle rack. Once ready 18,

let them cool slightly and then remove them from the molds by running a knife along the edge 19. Dust the surface of the gobeletti with powdered sugar before enjoying them (20-21)!

Storage

Store gobeletti outside the refrigerator, in a tin box or covered with plastic wrap, for a maximum of 4 days. The shortcrust pastry can be frozen raw.

Advice

You can make the shortcrust pastry more aromatic by adding citrus zest or the seeds of a vanilla pod. For the filling, you can choose the jams you love the most!

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.