The Monday Morning Cookery Club included this in their recently published fourth book. Their introduction says: “Some recipes are really hard to benchmark. A simple jam slice can be an Italian crostata, an Eastern European linzer, or a tart from the local Aussie bakery. So a lot of discussions ensued in our kitchen on which one we loved the most. The fact that this is a true heirloom recipe from Sylvia’s late mother, Miriam Weiss, only adds to its pole position.” German-born Miriam was interned in the Italian Ferramonti concentration camp and Sylvia was one of a handful of babies born there. They moved to British Palestine in 1945 and emigrated again, to Australia in 1950.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease or line a 26 x 18 cm shallow rectangular tin.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, walnuts and cinnamon. Add the chopped butter to the dry ingredients and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Add the egg yolks, lemon zest and juice. Use your fingertips or wooden spoon to combine the liquid with the dry mixture until a rough dough forms. Lightly knead to bring it together and form a smooth dough, being careful not to overwork it.
Cut off a quarter of the dough (approximately 140 g) to use for the lattice top, wrap tightly and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
With lightly floured hands, break off and press pieces of the remaining dough into the prepared tin until the base is evenly covered. Spread the jam evenly on top, from edge to edge.
Remove the lattice dough from the fridge. On a well-floured board, roll out the dough into a long rectangle of pastry about 3mm thick.
Place the board and pastry in the fridge for another 15 minutes. Using a ruler as a guide, cut the pastry into equal-width strips, between 5 and 10mm wide, and carefully arrange these in a crisscross (lattice) pattern on top of the jam.
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before removing from the tin. Cut into squares to serve.
