Summers in Colorado are filled with blue sky. They are dry, hot and interrupted by the occasional late afternoon thunderstorm or the sounds of hummingbirds cutting through the air. My kitchen is running on half burner and I only turn on my oven for special occasions. Yes, they have to be very special. Baking a fruit Crostata counts as one.
I baked my fruit Crostata with peaches, blueberries and plums. The crust is homemade and the easy to follow steps are shown in the pictures below. This is a successful Ina Garten recipe I have been baking for years. Flaky pie crust is guaranteed! Exchange the fruit to your liking and surprise your family and guests with an easy to prep fruit Crostata. Serve with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream for a treat to be remembered.
Bring some sun and blue sky to your table and enjoy!
| Fruit Crostata and How to make the Perfect Pie Crust | | Print |
- For the pastry (makes 2 Crostatas)
- 2 cups (240 g) flour
- ¼ cup (48 g) sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ pound (2 sticks or 227 g) cold unsalted butter, diced
- 6 tablespoons (3 ounces, 90 g or 90 ml) ice water
- For the filling (makes 1 Crostata):
- 1 pound firm ripe peaches, peeled, cut in wedges
- ½ pound (450 g) firm ripe black plums, unpeeled, cut in wedges
- ½ pint (300g) fresh blueberries
- 1 Tablespoon flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon grated orange zest
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- For the streusel:
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup (30 g) flour
- ¼ cup (48 g) sugar
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
- Topping for the rim:
- sliced almonds
- 1 egg yolk
- For the pastry:
- In a food processor fitted with a steel blade mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and mix until it looks like in picture A.
- While the food processor is running add all the water at once and mix until it looks like in picture B.
- Remove the dough onto a floured surface and roll it into a ball.
- Divide into two equal halves and flatten to a disk. See picture C.
- Refrigerate the disk dough for at least one hour.
- Freeze or refrigerate the second disk dough for another occasion.
- For the filling:
- Preheat the oven to 450 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Toss the fruit with flour, sugar, orange juice and zest. Set aside.
- For the streusel:
- In a food processor fitted with a steel blade mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and mix until streusel form. Keep cold until further use.
- Assembly:
- Roll the dough into a 11 inch (27 cm) circle. Transfer onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Fill evenly with fruit mixture, leaving a 1½ inch rim.
- Sprinkle the streusel on top.
- Fold the rim over the fruit mixture and baste the dough rim with the egg wash. Sprinkle with almonds.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, unitl the fruit is tender and the Crostata has a golden color.
- Serve Crostata warm or at room temperature.
A: Pie Crust dough after the addition of the butter.
B: Pie crust dough after the addition of the water.
C: Pie crust dough formed into a disk. You can still see the individual butter pieces.
Adapted from Ina Garten.
{ 11 comments }
My peaches are quite ripe but not over ripe…should I maybe use 1 1/2 T flour?
This recipe looks divine. Ina is one of my favorite chefs.
This looks and sounds wonderful. What if you don’t have a food processor? I’m always concerned that doing it “by hand” makes the crust tougher.
Hey Jaye,
It is a little harder without a food processor (which I would recommend purchasing). You would have to cut the butter in by hand and make sure to work quickly, since you do want the dough to stay cold. The butter has to stay pea sized to help to create a flaky crust during baking.
Happy Baking.
Kirsten
Looks so so good! Those berries and toasted almonds on top..
Oh does this look great!! There is always an excuse to bake a crostata in the mountains 🙂
Wow, this is really, really beautiful! Love the rustic looking crust.
Very delicious this crostata ……I like the almond crusti!
francesca
gawd blimey this looks good!
This looks positively delicious – I love the combination of summer fruits with the orange zest and toasted almonds. Gorgeous photo too!
Your photos are too gorgeous. . . as usual! I love all butter crusts and I love Ina’s recipes. After reading many times on America’s Test Kitchen to replace some of the ice water with cold vodka as it will evaporate during cooking resulting in a super flaky crust. I’ve tried it a couple of times and it is pure magic. I’m going to use this recipe next time and throw so vodka in. I will report to you on the results.
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