Brandied Cherry Crostata with Toasted Almonds
Cherry lovers, this one's for you– Brandied Cherry Crostata with Toasted Almonds! A crostata is a simple, rustic pie, but I've added a couple of embellishments to this recipe, the cherries are brandied and the pie crust has a layer of almond paste. Cherries. Brandy. Almonds. What's not to love? Served hot from the oven with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, it's always a crowd pleaser!Tips:When rolling out the dough and the almond paste, lay a sheet of parchment paper underneath and on top. It makes rolling so much easier and doesn't require you to use additional bench flour.The crostata takes 45 minutes to cook. I suggest setting your timer for 20 minutes and checking it. If it's browning to fast, place a sheet of tin foil over the top to protect it from the heat.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 6 tbspn butter, diced and very cold
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3 tspn sugar
- 1/4 tspn salt
- 5 tbspn vegetable shortening
- 1/4 cup ice water
For the cherry filling
- 3 cups fresh cherries, pitted (about 1 lb, divided)
- 2 tbspn granulated sugar
- 1 cup brandy, divided
- 1/8 tspn salt
- 1 tspn vanilla
- 2 1/2 tbspn cornstarch
- 7 ounces almond paste
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbspn heavy cream
- Turbinado sugar sprinkled over the top
- almonds scattered on top
Instructions
For the dough
- Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.
- Add the butter and shortening. Pulse until well combined, but do not over mix.
- With the machine running, pour ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough comes together.
- Remove the dough from the food processor and roll into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the cherry filling
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Wash and pit the cherries.
- Put 2 cups of the cherries, in a sauce pan with 3/4 cup brandy, sugar, salt and vanilla extract and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until thick and syrupy, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Pour the remaining 1/4 cup brandy into a small bowl or cup and add the cornstarch. Stir until the cornstarch dissolves into the liquid, and then add to the cherries. Stir until the mixture thickens.
- Transfer to large bowl and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Add remaining fresh cherries and toss to coat. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12" circle, about 1/8" thick and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Roll out the almond paste to make an 8" circle, about 1/8" thick.
- Center the almond disk on top of the dough.
- Spread the cherry mixture on the dough, leaving a two inch border.
- Fold the edges of the dough over the fruit, leaving most of the fruit exposed in the center.
- Whisk the egg yolk with heavy cream to make the egg wash and brush the crust. Sprinkle the crostata with Turbinado sugar and scatter sliced almonds over the top.
- Bake for about 45 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden.
