By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- 5(196)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Whether you call it a crostata, a galette or a rustic fruit tart, this juicy, messy confection has a charm that lies with its flavors rather than its looks. It hits the same luscious, buttery, jammy notes as a fruit pie, but instead of being neatly trimmed, crimped and latticed, it features hasty folds and raggedy edges: perfectly acceptable points of style. Unlike jewel-like tarts crowned with perfect fruits, crostatas do just as well with weeping, bruised specimens, as long as you cut out any obviously funky bits. And crostatas are easy to improvise. You can use whatever fruit you have, making this a handy recipe to pull out when the result of your farmers’ market shopping exuberance begins to wrinkle and fade.
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 1cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
- ⅓cup (40 grams) whole-wheat flour
- ½cup (100 grams) plus 1 tablespoon (15 grams) sugar
- ½teaspoon (2 grams) plus a pinch fine sea salt
- 1large egg
- Heavy cream
- 6tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 3cups sliced and pitted ripe sugar plums or mix of other plums about 1½ pounds before pitting
- 1½tablespoons (22 grams) cornstarch
- 1small bunch lemon thyme (or use 1 teaspoon lemon thyme leaves)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
270 calories; 11 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 21 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 128 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse together the flours, 1 tablespoon sugar and ½ teaspoon salt until blended. In a measuring cup, lightly beat the egg, and add just enough cream to get to ⅓ cup. Lightly whisk the egg and cream together.
Step
2
Add the butter to the flour mixture and pulse to break up the butter. Do not over-process; you need lima-bean-size chunks of butter. Drizzle the egg mixture over the dough and pulse until it just starts to come together but is still mostly large crumbs.
Step
3
Put the dough on the counter and knead to make one uniform piece. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
Step
4
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough out to a 12-inch round (it can be ragged). Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and chill while preparing the filling.
Step
5
Toss together the plums, all but a tablespoon of the remaining sugar, a pinch of salt and the cornstarch. Pile fruit on the dough circle, leaving a 1½-inch border. Gently fold the pastry over the fruit, pleating to hold it in (sloppy is fine). Brush pastry with cream. Sprinkle remaining sugar on top, with the thyme.
Step
6
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Remove the thyme branches (some leaves will cling; you want this). Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ratings
5
out of 5
196
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Cooking Notes
Genny
I've made this many times, using 1 stick of butter for the dough, and 3 oz sugar (6 Tbs) for the plums and adding lemon zest to them. I've also taken to adding some freshly ground pepper. I bake on parchment paper, at 425 for 25 minutes, cover with foil, and reduce temperature to 375, and continue baking 15-20 minutes. Mixing pears with the plums is also nice.
A
I've made this with cherry tomatoes (slice in half) atop a bed of onions that have been sauteed.
jmee
p.s. I've got a weird fear of my food processor so made the dough by hand and it worked out fine.
Ann
Used a variety of plums from the farmer's market and this was spectacularly beautiful! I used a store bought crust due to time limitations - next time.....We did not have lemon thyme, I just used regular with a squeeze of lemon juice on the top.
annie
fine to sub tapioca starch for cornstarch here--doesn't need a ton of body. used whole wheat pastry flour instead of whole wheat; the dough was very easy to work with. used pluots and left a particularly pretty lemon thyme twig, v. classy.
Gloria Dralla
Substituted peaches and lemon verbena for the lemon thyme. Excellent. Will be making it more often...better than a crumble and a lot less work than a pie.
Maike
So simple yet elevated! My batter was quite soft and sticky (a bit like scone batter), which might be because my butter was too warm so I was concerned how it would turn out. Nonetheless, the result was fabulous; soft, yet crunchy dough and juicy, sweet, slightly sour fruits. I added the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of half a lemon and vanilla extract to the fruit, but didn't use cornstarch or thyme. Heavenly!
bee g
White peaches. Regular thyme. Made crust with pastry cutter; it came together perfectly, no need for processor. 1/4 cup sugar in filling. Sublime!
Sam
Had to improvise with white peaches and it was superb.
Deta
Used frozen sweet pitted cherries. Hoping it works!
Deta
This is crazy delish! The crust is perfectly rustic with whole wheat flour creating a flaky but almost a cookie-like texture. I didn't have heavy cream, so used sour cream. Cut way back on filling sugar too (just 2 TB) since our plums had been jarred this summer in a light syrup. I only had dried thyme, so added lemon zest. 1 TB cornstarch was enough for the amount of plums I had available. Results were just perfect.
elissa
This might sound like overload but it’s really not— a scoop little of pumpkin ice cream on this cristata is heaven.
Cassandra
Excellent. Added black pepper instead of thyme since I didn’t have it (no lemon either). Plums and pears. Bake until golden - ovens vary. Dough was surprisingly easy to make and work with - I’ll be using it for other pastry!
Gina
Delicious! The crust was lovely, flavorful and flaky. I forgot the thyme but still delivered on taste. I made a second one with peaches adding almond extract and some lemon juice; again, it was a winner as my neighbor noted how "elegant" the look and taste of it. Thank you for sharing this recipe MC!
Natala
+1 for adding cracked pepper & lemon zest! Note: the dough was very rigid when I brought it out of the fridge, which led to cracking. I also pre-mixed the plums and by the time I was ready to put everything together they were juicy (so I don't recommend doing them in advance! even 30 minutes is too much!). When I folded the crostata edge it cracked, often. I think if it was a bit softer this might have been better and then I would put it back in the fridge for 5. Regardless it was delicious
tal
Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t see amount for the heavy cream...?
S. Parker
Step 1: In a measuring cup, lightly beat the egg, and add just enough cream to get to 1/3 cup. Lightly whisk the egg and cream together.
Amy's note
Use 8 or 9 inch springform pan. Butter pan and line bottom with parchment
Gary P
Great recipe....I added raw pistachios and it gave it a wonderful texture and flavor as well as contrasting well with the blood of the plums :)
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