I have acquired a new fan cookbooks or regular cookbooks, but I have yet to choose a recipe from them so I am repeating recipes from previous cookbooks especially those that didn’t turn out ugly lol. First up is this gorgeous plum and cherry crostata. I found this recipe in a Food and Wine September 2016 Italy special magazine.
Ingredients Summary –easy to find at most grocery stores except the dark sour cherries, I had to use a replacement. also didn’t have cherry jam
- fruits: plums (used red plums instead of black), cherry jam (used strawberry jam), Luxardo cherries (used Amarena cherries in syrup), I also used grapes for sourness
- everything else: flour, sugar, salt, butter, buttermilk, vinegar, cornstarch, lemon zest, heavy cream
Steps Summary – rather complicated and time consuming, especially if you’re not a pro baker like me
Make pastry crust, refrigerate, then roll out into a round and freeze. Combine plums with sugar, corn starch and zest, then spread jam onto crust. Scatter cherries on top of jam and overlap plum slices on top of that. Fold the crust over and brush with cream, then bake. Let cool until warm and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Taste Summary – tastes tart and just a little sweet, with a buttery crust
- Taste – since I used tart cherries in syrup but sugarless jam, this made the perfect combination of sour and sweet to me. The plums were the main flavor, but the burst of grapes added interest, kind of a cornocupia of tangy bold wine-like tastes.
- Texture – the crust was surprisingly sturdy and crunchy on the outside, while the fruits were soft but still had a firm chew. I was afraid it would immediately get soggy like an old pie, but it held up for quite a few days.
Convenience Summary
Obviously I made this recipe because I had a pound of organic plums left over, plus I just opened a huge Costco sized jar of cherries in syrup, and I still had plenty of grapes and jam leftover that needed using up asap. This crostata was intimidating to me because I never made pastry crust from scratch before, but it wasn’t too hard once I started, and the result was delightful. I had dessert for almost a week lol. I would only make this recipe again if I was foolish enough to buy a 2 pound bag of plums in the future, though I don’t mind the concept of baking a crostata in general if I had that much butter to use. In this economy though? Probably not.