Raspberry Fig Crostata Recipes

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.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Divide the dough in half and shape into two 2-by-6-inch rectangles. Wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the dried figs, jam and juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the juice is syrupy, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly, then transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside to cool completely.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour 1 piece of dough and roll it out between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a 4-by-12-inch rectangle. Repeat with the remaining dough. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the top pieces of parchment and trim the edges of the dough rectangles. Spread the filling lengthwise down the center of each dough rectangle in a 2-inch-wide strip. Brush the long edges lightly with the beaten egg. Fold 1 long side of dough over the filling, then fold over the other long side; press gently to seal. Place both logs seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet, a few inches apart, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the cookie logs until golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through, about 20 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes on the pan. Transfer the logs to a cutting board; slice into 1-inch pieces and transfer to racks to cool completely.

Steps:

• Mix the flour, sugar, and lemon peel, in a food processor. Add the butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add salt. Pulse in the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to an 11-inch round. Transfer the dough onto a heavy baking sheet that has been lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Stir the lemon juice into the preserve and spread the preserves on top of dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8-inch round, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in the dough.
• Bake the crostata until the crust is golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool. Sprinkle with the almonds and dust with the powdered sugar, if you wish. Slide a metal spatula under the crust to free the crostata from the baking sheet and serve.

Steps:

• In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine flour, sesame seeds, almonds, sugar, salt, cinnamon and lemon zest. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add 2 eggs and vanilla, and mix just until it comes together. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours until firm. (Double-wrapped, dough can be frozen up to 3 months.).
• In a saucepan, combine half the figs and half the raspberries with brown sugar, white sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Toss well. Add 1 tbsp butter. Bring to a boil and cook 2-3 minutes until thick. Transfer to a bowl and add reserved figs and raspberries. Stir gently to combine. Taste and adjust lemon or sugar if needed. Cool over ice bath until room temperature.
• Remove dough from refrigerator. Remove 1/3 of dough and return to refrigerator. Flour work bench and roll out larger piece of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Dough will be very fragile, so keep it cold and work quickly but carefully. Transfer carefully to a 9" tart pan. Patch any holes carefully to be sure the base is solid. Press up to form sides.
• On a piece of baking parchment, roll out smaller piece of dough to 1/8" thick. Cut into 1/2" strips with pastry wheel or pizza cutter. Transfer parchment to a sheet pan and place in refrigerator 30 minutes.
• Fill tart shell with fruit mixture until level with top of shell, about 2½ cups of fruit. Beat 1 egg with water and brush over exposed edge of crust. Lay strips of dough over top in lattice formation. Brush each strip with egg wash as you lay it in place. Press down on lattice strips at edges of tart pan to press them into the edge of the tart shell and trim off excess. (Strips should form a lattice, but do not attempt to actually weave the strips - the dough is too fragile and will break.) Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• Place pan on foil-wrapped baking sheet (to catch bubble-overs) and bake in preheated 350°F oven 40-45 minutes until juices are bubbly and lattice is golden-brown. Cool to room temperature, remove tart shell, and serve with vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Steps:

• Make the Croustades: Place dough on a lightly floured work surface; lightly flour dough. Using a rolling pin, press the dough firmly in parallel strokes close to one another. Continue pressing with rolling pin, adding a pinch of flour to dough between strokes, until dough becomes more malleable.
• Continue rolling dough back and forth without rolling over the ends (which may make ends thinner and stick to surface). Turn dough 90 degrees, and continue rolling in the other direction; roll dough, changing directions as necessary, into a 15 1/2-inch square. Carefully transfer dough to a large baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap; transfer to refrigerator and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Using a sharp pizza wheel, trim edges of dough and cut into nine 5-inch squares. Fold each square of dough, corner to corner, to form a triangle. Using the pizza wheel, make a cut over the fold on both sides about 1/2 inch from the edge of the triangle.
• Unfold triangles back into squares. Pierce the inner squares at 1/2-inch intervals using the tines of a fork. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and salt; brush inner squares lightly with egg mixture.
• Fold the outer corners of each square over to the opposite inside corners, one at a time.
• Using a floured fingertip, press the borders down and indent the sides of each croustade at 1/4-inch intervals with the dull side of a paring knife. Place croustades on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet; chill until firm, or cover and chill overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees with a rack set in the center of the oven. Bake croustades until well risen and deep golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove croustades from baking sheet and remove some of the puff pastry layers from the center by loosening the sides of the inner squares with a fork and lifting out, also removing any unbaked dough in the process. If you would like to use the removed layers as covers for the filling, return them to baking sheets along with the croustades; return to oven until centers have cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Make the Creme Anglaise: In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, cream, sugar, vanilla bean, lemon zest, and cinnamon stick; bring to a boil over low heat. Meanwhile, set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium bowl; set medium bowl in a larger bowl prepared with an ice-water bath. Whisk yolks in another medium bowl.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove vanilla bean, lemon zest, and cinnamon stick from boiling milk mixture; discard. Whisk 1/3 of the milk mixture into the bowl with egg yolks. Return remaining milk mixture to a boil and, while whisking, gradually add egg yolk mixture to saucepan. Continue whisking until mixture thickens slightly, about 15 seconds.
• Remove from heat and pour through strainer set over prepared bowl. Continue whisking mixture until it cools slightly, about 30 seconds. Let stand until completely cooled. Transfer creme anglaise to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to use. This can be done up to 1 day in advance.
• Make the Fig and Raspberry Filling: Stem, peel, and chop figs, reserving 5 whole figs to finish croustades, and place them in a large bowl. Add raspberries, reserving 18 to finish croustades. Cover and set aside at room temperature. This can be done up to 1 day in advance.
• Heat jam in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil. Let jam reduce slightly, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool for at least 15 minutes.
• Fold the cooled jam into the fig and raspberry mixture. Place croustades on individual plates. Spoon the mixture into the center of each croustade. Halve remaining figs; top each croustade with a fig half, cut side up, and reserved raspberries. Spoon some of the creme anglaise onto the plate and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll pie crust out on a floured work surface to about 10 inches. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
• Combine blueberries, flour, sugar, tarragon, lemon zest and juice, and almond extract in a medium bowl. Mix well.
• Spoon blueberry mixture into the center of the pie crust, leaving about a 2-inch border. Place fig slices in the center in a circular pattern. Fold crust up all around the edge of the blueberries, crimping and pinching to create pleats.
• Whisk egg and water together in a small bowl. Brush edges of crust with mixture and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust is crispy and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool and set, 15 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Make dough: In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, gradually add up to 2 tablespoons more water). Do not overmix. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days).
• Make filling: In food processor, combine almonds and sugar; process until finely ground. Add 1 egg, butter, flour, vanilla, and salt; pulse until smooth, and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine figs and lemon juice; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a large lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll dough to a 14-inch round. Spread almond filling in center, leaving a 2-inch border; top with fig mixture. Fold border over edge of filling, pleating all around; press down gently to seal. In a small bowl, mix remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water; brush dough with egg wash.
• Lifting edges of parchment, transfer crostata to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 1 hour. Let cool on baking sheet at least 30 minutes. To serve, cut crostata into wedges.