The best thing about living in B.C is the local produce. Every summer I look forward to baking and cooking with fresh produce and fruit grown locally.
I have already visited Krause Berry Farms and sampled some of their delicious fruit and products. This past week my mom was in Osoyoos, the interior of B.C and Keremeos is also known as ‘fruit stand capital of B.C.’ There are tons of local farm markets you can visit and sample all the fresh and delicious fruit. Oliver is also the wine capital of Canada, an entirely different kind of fruit product 😉
When she came home, she said she had bought lots of fruit and was going to give me some. She brought back Peaches, Cherries, Transparent Apples, and green and yellow Zucchini.
The apples were very different than I had seen before, they felt as though they were made of foam! Very light and sponge like. She said they would probably be good for baking with. Translation: Make Pie.
I happily took home the veggies and fruit, and decided that I would make a pie to bring over for dinner the next night.
A Crostata is an Italian style pie. I have never made one, but thought since I’m Italian, I had better try it! 🙂 Another pie I really want to try before the summer is through is a lattice-top 🙂
There are a couple differences for Crostata from a traditional pie dough. First, the addition of eggs. More specifically, egg yolks. Also, sugar. Lots of sugar. This creates an almost ‘cake-like’ pie crust, as Adam put it. It is more dense, but just as flakey and tender. It is really good! You could definitely serve this with a scoop of ice cream, or whipped cream. I simply sifted some icing sugar on top. You can serve it warm or cold, I had mine at room temperature and it was delicious!
Now, the apples I used were definitely not ‘hard’ apples. They were quite soft. So in the baking process, when you cook the apples first before baking it in the oven, they got extra soft. I think If I used a softer apple next time I might skip the first cooking process, and just bake it in the oven.
I also made my dough the night before, and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
I will definitely be making Crostata’s in the future. Maybe even mini ones! I think this would be great for Easter, or ‘Pasqua’ in Italian 😉 I’m sure other fruits would be delicious as well!
Apple Crostata
Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart’s New Pie’s and Tarts
Ingredients
Filling:
- 3 Tbs. Butter
- 6-7 medium/large Granny Smith Apples, or Green Apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
- 1 1/2. Tsp. Lemon Zest
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Sprinkling of Cinnamon
- 2 1/2 cups Flour (WW or AP)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 sticks plus 1 tbs. butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 tbs. ice water (use as needed)
Directions
- To make the crust, mix flour, sugar, and butter on medium speed until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the yolks; mix slightly. Add ice water one tbs. at a time. Mix until just combined. Form dough into disk; wrap in plastic. Chill for 1 hour or up to 3 days.
- To make the filling, melt butter in a large pan on high heat. Add apples, and zest stirring until coated. Sprinkle sugar, and saute, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, liquid has thickened, and apples are almost golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet, and let cool to room temperature.
- To assemble, flour surface lightly. Roll chilled dough into a 1/4-inch-thick circle. Place dough on cookie sheet ( I used a pizza pan!). Mound cooled apple mixture in center, leaving a 3-inch border. Fold edges of the dough on top of apples, overlapping and leaving about a 6-inch round opening. Feel free to ‘tear off” any large amounts of excess dough. You can trim it with a pizza cutting as well before placing on baking sheet. Refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush edge of crust with egg, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until pastry is golden brown and apples are tender, about 30-40 minutes, up to 50 minutes if needed.Ciao~ Enjoy :)* I think the dough really makes this Crostata, but I may just use a regular apple pie filling next time, without the additional cooking, and butter. I also used two who eggs instead of four egg yolks this time, as I did not want to waste four egg whites =)
Lainey was helping too, of course. =)
5 Comments
Delish, Lou!!!
Looks very good Alicia. Yes transparent apples are one of the softest apples you can buy. They make the very best applesauce because they cook down so fast. But not the best for apple pies!
haha Thanks Auntie! I thought they might get too soft to cook twice! But it still taste delicious!! I think I will freeze some for baking in the fall!
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[…] Apparently February is Apple Month. BC Tree Fruits created this event as a way to encourage us to support local growers, orginiating in the Okanagan. The even began back in 1960 and has been celebrated every February since. It is also BC Tree Fruits 75th Anniversary of the Okganagan orginization. I’m lucky to be able to visit the Okanagan every year and vacation in Osoyoos, and have written about my love for local produce and fruit grown in the interior here […]