My Favorite Summer into Fall Dessert – Peach Crostata

It’s quite possible this is my favorite Marmo-baked dessert. This dessert accomplishes some fantastic things in the realm of taste and texture:

It’s tangy (depending on which fruit you choose for the filling).

It’s sweet – but not overdone.

It’s crust is a buttery fantasy of golden brown deliciousness that surrounds the tangy fruit in a chewy and crispy envelope.

A magical thing happens with the fruit and crust in which the mushy fruit creates an ooey-chewy layer of dough right where the fruit and crust meet – Not unlike an L&B slice of pizza – yet the rest of the crust remains firm and fresh. It’s magic.

Side Note #1: This is a good pie to eat at 2am for your second dessert. Or first breakfast…

Side Note #2: You could modify this with other fruits – apples! Berries! Cheese puffs! No, not the cheese puffs.

Side Note #3: This is a good “pie” to make if you are not good at crusts. You’re allowed to be messy with this crust, as it’s just a fold-over. No special trimming or arrangements involved.

So let’s get down to how make it, because you are going to want to do that. Soon.

Fruit Crostata

What You Need for the Crust:

1 2/3 cup flour

3 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 c cornmeal

1 teaspoon grated orange peel – optional

14 tablespoon chilled unsalted butter

1/3 cup ice water.

What To Do for the Crust:

Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, orange peel and salt and blend in a food processor. Add butter using on/off pulse until butter is reduced to pea size pieces.

Add the water a little at a time until dough comes together. Gather dough together into a ball and chill for 15 minutes.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper to about 14 inches wide. 

Slide the parchment and dough combo onto a baking sheet.  Chill for another 15 minutes – no more!

What You Need for the Filling:

1/4 cup sugar

4-5 peaches or nectarines sliced and peeled

1/2 pint of raspberries

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg beaten

What You Do for The Filliing:

Stir sugar and cornstarch together in a large bowl.

Mix in fruit and vanilla extract.

Let this stand until juices are released – about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spoon fruit onto the center of the dough, arranging it in a 10 inch diameter circle in the center of the dough. Lift the edges of the dough, fold them over the fruit center, and pinch them to form a seam. 

Brush the dough with egg and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until crust is golden brown, about 55 minutes.