Cherry Apple Crostada is simple elegance on a plate. Try this recipe with your favorite filling.
Hotter than hot in the culinary world right now are minimal desserts that still impress. It seems that home cooks and chefs alike are looking for quick, easy, and beautiful solutions to post meal-time decadence. I am seeing more desserts that can be prepped up to a day ahead and finished off quickly with ease and use everyday kitchen tools that we already have on hand.
“This dessert is easily personalized. Crostatas can have any fruit combination that your heart desires for the filling.”
One such dessert is a crostata. Crostatas are rustic fruit-based Italian tarts or pies. All that is needed is a sheet pan and you are in business. I prefer to use my nonstick rimless cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for easier plating and cooling of my crostatas.
I typically have everything I need to make this dessert on hand in my pantry and fridge. It all starts with a basic pie dough recipe. Then cut up fresh fruit for the filling. Mix the fruit with sugar and a thickener. Put the fruit in the middle of the rolled out pie crust. Then fold up the edges around the pile.
This dessert is easily personalized. Crostatas can have any fruit combination that your heart desires for the filling. You can use an egg wash for the crust or sprinkle the crust with sugar for presentation. You have a choice of cornstarch or flour for a filling thickener. And top this dessert the same way you would top your favorite pie, a la crème or al la mode.
I am a fan of seasonal fruits. This week’s crostata highlights honey crisp apples and dried cherries. I love the way honey crisps bake to a warm sweet tenderness. Adding some dried fruit to the mix allows for added flavor and color while preventing the filling from being too juicy. I also sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the crust after folding it all together just because I can.
To add a new beautiful touch to your feast, try your own hand at making a crostata this holiday season. It is guaranteed to wow friends or family.
Cherry Apple Crostata
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter
3 tbsp. ice-cold water
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup water
2 honey crisp apples
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
1 beaten egg
Cinnamon sugar
To make the crust, cut the butter into cubes and freeze for at least 30 minutes. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add butter to the flour. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or with your fingers. The flour is ready when it resembles wet sand and pea-size pieces of butter remain. With your fingers, stir in ice water one tablespoon at a time. Place dough on a floured surface and flatten into a disk. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
For the filling, bring one cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add dried cherries to the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the cherries from the water. Core and dice the honey crisp apples. Combine cherries, apples, sugar, 2 tbsp. flour, and lemon juice and let rest for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Preheat oven to 400. Place dough on a well-floured surface. Roll out the dough to 15 inches in diameter in as close to a circle as possible dusting with flour as necessary. Place the dough on a rimless cookie sheet. Roll the dough around the rolling pin for easier transport. Spoon the apple and cherry filling into the middle of the crust reserving the juice at the bottom of the filling to make a glaze. Fold the edges of the dough around the filling. Brush beaten egg in the folds to seal them. Brush the rest of the exposed crust with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place in the oven for one hour. Remove from the oven and allow cooling for 15 minutes. Continue to cool the crostata by sliding it onto a wire rack for 15 minutes more. Crostata is ready for plating.
Place the reserved filling juice in a small saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-high heat approximately 3 to 5 minutes until the juice thickens and browns turning into a caramel glaze. Pour the caramel glaze over the crostata just before serving.
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