Sour Cherry Crostata

The Sour cherry crostata by Ruth Reichl looks appealing. A few months ago, Diane posted a similar crostata and commented that the crust was difficult to handle, based on Ruth’s recipe. So I compare that with crostata with raspberry jam by Giada De Laurentiis. However, her crust is more like a free-form galette than the classic Italian version I prefer. So I split the difference.

What’s the difference between a crostata and a galette? Some say that the two are highly interchangeable; it may just be a linguistic difference. One is Italian, the other is French. However, the crostata crust I’ve tasted is not like the cookie dough typical of a French galette. It is softer than a tart crust and more cakelike (leavened by baking powder).

Therefore, I digged deeper into my bread books and found a crostata interali recipe in Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook by Jim Lahey. I’ve successfully made the panettone, the “Mount Everest” of bread baking, following his recipe. Ever since, I know I could bet on his recipe as the gold standard.

Don’t get me wrong, I love putting the seasonal peak fruits or vegetables in a free-form galette. By all measures, the galette dough remains to be my goto crust for both sweet and savory applications. Furthermore, they are the embodiment of ease, rustic beauty and flavor, all tightly wrapped in nice packages. But in my head, they are not crostatas.

Finally, I made a crostata crust and filled it with sour cherry jam. It looks like Ruth’s sour cherry crostata and with Giada’s Italian take using jam.

A final note on the crust — the foundation of any crostata or galette. If crust making sounds intimidating, this dough is very forgiving. It’s sturdy enough you can roll it out and soft enough to press into a tart pan, if you so choose. Its texture feels like Play-Doh. So feel free to play.

Have fun with the dough. Roll it out like cigars and fashion a tic-tac-toe pattern over the jam filling. Bake for about a half hour. What comes out is a delightful Italian dessert, perfect on pasta nights! Kick the crostata up a notch with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Why not?

Print Recipe

Sour Cherry Crostata

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 200 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
• 40 grams whole wheat flour
• 2 grams (1/2 teaspoon) baking powder
• 3 grams (1/2 teaspoon) fine sea salt
• 168 grams (1 1/2 stick or 12 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 150 grams sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 4 grams (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
• 250 grams (3/4 sup) sour cherry jam

Instructions

1

Combine the dry ingredients: flours, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

2

Place the butter, sugar, egg, egg yolk, lemon zest and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 5 to 7 minutes, stopping midway through to scrape down the bowl. Add the dry ingredients and gradually bring the mixer to medium speed for 1 minute.

3

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and pat into a 1/2-inch-thick disk. Cover lightly and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and as long as 8 hours. When ready to roll out the dough, allow it to sit unwrapped for a few minutes at room temperature, until sightly pliable.

4

Heat the oven to 400°F. Unwrap the dough and knead the dough on an unfloured work surface until it becomes malleable. Do not let it become too warm or it will become unmanageably soft. Heavenly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut out a 12-inch circle of dough and line the 10-inch tart pan. Gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. Gather the dough scraps and roll the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick rope.

5

Pour the jam into the middle of the pan and use the back of a spoon to spread it evenly (thick patches will sink into the dough). It should not quite touch the edges.

6

Put ropes of dough across the top of the jam with the remaining dough. It need not be perfect. Place the tart pan on a sheet pan.

7

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top lattice is deeply browned. Cool the crostata in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from the outer ring of the pan and continue to cool on the rack.

Notes

Adapted from recipes from Ruth Reichl, Giada De Laurentiis and Jim Lahey.