Berry Crostatas Recipes

BERRY CROSTATA RECIPE: THE BEST ITALIAN DESSERT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190°C); position the rack in the middle.

SUMMER FRUIT CROSTATA

Steps:

• For the pastry:
• Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly (and carefully!) with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour. Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board, roll it into a ball, cut in half, and form into 2 flat disks. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. If you only need 1 disk of dough The other disk of dough can be frozen.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to the baking sheet.
• For the pastry (makes 2 crostatas) .
• For the filling:
• Cut the peaches and plums in wedges and place them in a bowl with the blueberries. Toss them with 1 tablespoon of the flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the orange zest, and the orange juice. Place the mixed fruit on the dough circle, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.
• Combine the 1/4 cup flour, the 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts to hold together. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Gently fold the border of the pastry over the fruit, pleating it to make an edge.
• Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Let the crostata cool for 5 minutes, then use 2 large spatulas to transfer it to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SUMMER BERRY CROSTATA WITH LEMON CURD

Steps:

• Place oven rack in lowest position, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place large pizza stone on rack, and heat 1 hour while preparing other ingredients. Cut 6 sheets of aluminum foil, each one 8 inches square, and set aside.
• Make the crust: Combine flours, sugar and salt in food processor, and pulse to combine. Remove lid, scatter butter over surface of flour and pulse until butter pieces are no longer visible, 10 pulses of 10 seconds or so each. Turn mixture into mixing bowl, and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons ice water. Toss lightly with fingertips. Gather dough together, and squeeze a small portion with fingers. If dough feels dry, add another tablespoon water, and toss to combine. Turn dough onto work surface, press together firmly and pat into round disk. Cut into 6 wedges. Roll each wedge into a ball, flatten slightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, and up to 24 hours.
• Make the curd: Place small, conical stainless-steel strainer over 2-cup glass measuring cup, and set aside. In small, heavy nonreactive saucepan, whisk egg, yolks and sugar together. Add lemon juice, and whisk to combine. Add zest, butter and salt. Place pan over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until mixture is shiny, opaque and thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat, and stir in cream. Strain immediately into glass measuring cup, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Make the blueberry filling: Place half the blueberries in medium saucepan. Add cornstarch and sugar, and stir well. Add lemon juice and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until blueberries give up juices, thicken and simmer a bit. Compote will be very thick. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining blueberries. Cool.
• Assemble the crostata: Working 1 piece of dough at a time, flour top and bottom lightly, and roll into thin 8-inch round. Transfer round to a square of foil. Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of desired filling in center, leaving 2-inch periphery free. Mound fruit in a circle. (Be sure to use all the filling in the 6 crostatas.) Fold dough over to support filling. Place crostata on sheet pan in refrigerator, and continue forming tarts with remaining dough pieces and fruit filling. Refrigerate all 6 crostatas at least 20 minutes.
• Slide 2 or 3 crostatas onto baking stone. Bake until dough is dark golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove, and cool 10 minutes on rack. Repeat with remaining crostatas. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, or add a dollop of whipped cream or a few tablespoons of chilled heavy cream. Serve.

MIXED-BERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Make the dough -- Combine 1 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in a large bowl. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and place the butter and 1 egg in the well. Using your hands mix the ingredients into soft pliable dough. Form it into a 4 inch disk and place it on a lightly floured parchment paper. Lightly dust the dough with flour and roll it into a 10-inch circle. Place dough with parchment paper on a baking sheet, cover the dough in plastic wrap, and chill for 10 minute
• Make the Crostata: Un a small bowl mix renaining flour and sugar and set aside. Remove the dough from the fridge and evenly spread the flour and sugar mixture on the dough leaving a 1-inch winde border arroung the edge.Place berries on top of the mixture and sprinkel with lemon juice. Fold the 1 inch border over the edge of the top of the berries to form a 9 inch Crostata.
• Bake the Croatata: Lightly brush the top of Crostatat dough with remaining beaten egg and sprinkle with terbinado sugar if desired. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 35 minutes. Remove form oven and slide Crostata with the parchment paper onto a wire rack.
• Cool for 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla icecream!
• Enjoy!

MIXED BERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line two small cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Unroll pie crust dough rounds separately onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Mix together 1/4 cup sugar and flour in a bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 mixture on each dough round, leaving a 1-inch border.
• Divide and arrange raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries evenly on top of flour-sugar mixture on each dough round. Squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon over each berry mixture.
• Fold in 1-inch border of dough on each round, pleating as you move, in order to keep all the berry juices inside. Brush beaten egg onto the pleated crusts. Sprinkle both crusts and both berry mixtures with 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crusts are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes or serve warm.

BERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Roll a store bought pie crust on to a piece of parchment paper. Set to the side.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl, combine the mixed berries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice. Mix gently until the berries are evenly coated.
• Pour the filling into the center of the dough, leaving a 2- to 3-inch border. Gently fold in the edges of the crust all along the circle.
• Using a whisk, mix the egg until scrambled. Brush the crust with egg and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
• Bake until the crust is golden and the filling just begins to bubble, about 25 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

BERRY CROSTATAS

Steps:

• For the pastry, stir the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and cut in using your fingertips or a pastry cutter. Whisk the sugar, egg and egg yolk together and add this all at once to the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Shape this into 2 discs, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours before rolling.
• For the fruit, bring the apples, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon up to a simmer over medium heat in a saucepan. Simmer the fruit, stirring occasionally until the apples are tender and the cranberries have "popped", about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature (or make ahead and chill).
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Lightly knead the first disc dough on a lightly floured surface (this makes it easier to roll without cracking) and roll it into a square that is 1/4-inch (6 mm) thick and 10-inches (25 cm) across. Using a ruler or back of a knife to indent the dough without cutting through, mark a cross from top to bottom and across and then from opposite corners (like an asterisk) - this will give you 8 triangles. Spoon some of the chilled filling in the centre of each triangle.
• Roll the second piece of dough to 12" (30 cm) square , 1/4-inch (6 mm) thick. Cut this into strips about an inch (25 mm) wide. To make a lattice that covers the base, lay half of the strips in one direction over the jam-covered based, leaving about an inch (25 mm) between them. To start the lattice, fold back alternating strips about 2 -inches (5 cm) back and lay one strip perpendicularly over the strips laying flat. Fold back the pastry strips so they rest over the newly laid one. Now fold back the opposite strips from the other side, and lay the next pastry strip next to the first perpendicular one and return the folded strips back. Repeat this alternating technique until you have a basket weave of pastry. Gently press around the fruit (along the triangle shapes made by the indentations made on the base dough) to secure the pastry in place. Trim around the edges of the square and then cut the pastry into their triangle portions. Transfer these to the prepared baking tray using a lifter.
• Brush the turnovers with the eggwash and sprinkle them with the cinnamon sugar. Bake the turnovers for about 25 minutes, until a rich golden brown. Once cooled, dust with icing sugar and serve.