Not all crostatas are created equal

It's been a while.

Christmas. New Year.  Food Poisoning. Starting a business.

And OOOOOH Honey.

If the holidays don't wear you out from cooking, the last two items in the last sentence will force you to take a break from getting crazy in the kitchen.  To clarify, the food poisoning was not the result of my cooking or for that matter, that of friends or family.  The  blame fell to the deli turkey from a local grocery store.  And alas, while the new business is not food-related, it is keeping me mighty busy and feeling challenged again in my professional life.

But now I am back!

I did a decent amount of cooking over Christmas though nothing like the Thanksgiving extravaganza.  My cooking exploits had mixed results.  I tried making cinnamon rolls for the first time and found out just how temperamental yeast can be.  Apparently, my beloved kitchen may not be the right incubator for yeast to do what it should do: rise!  After two rounds of making dough, including once at 10 pm on Christmas Eve, I realized I had killed my yeast.  I forged on and still made the rolls the next morning.  They turned out like little flat hockey pucks.  But let me tell you, ain't nothing that a pound of butter and cinnamon can't make better!  Flat or not, they were delish.  Anyway, when I can figure out how to get the dough to rise, I'll post the recipe.

In the meantime, I also learned that not all crostatas are created equal.  In the fall, I made a divine pear and fig crostata.  I mean, this dessert made my toes curl it was so good.  And it was so easy to make.  Easy crust with no dough drama.  Delicious filling with the slightly exotic flavor of cardamom.

So why did I not make this again for Christmas?  Good question.

I decided to use a different crostata recipe for my Christmas dessert.  It was an apple crostata and unfortunately, it was a mess.  It turned out okay once it was baked but it was a rocky road to making it look nice.  The dough was next to impossible to work with.  It was like a triage station in the kitchen on Christmas day as I tried to patch the dough of the crostata together to hold the filling in.  The finished product was ... well, fine.  But not the rock star quality of the crostata from the fall.

Try this absolutely divine pear and fig crostata.  I don't know if it is the cardamom or the way the crust gets golden brown because you brush it with heavy cream but everything about this dessert was perfect.  It is the ideal dessert to serve for a dinner party on a cold winter night.

Pear and Fig Crostata

The finished product in all it's golden brown, bubbly filling goodness glory!

Ingredients

Crust

1 2/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Filling

1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon (scant) ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

2 1/4 pounds firm but ripe unpeeled Anjou pears (about 4), cored, each cut into 8 wedges

10 dried but moist Calimyrna figs (about 4 ounces), stemmed, quartered

Heavy whipping cream (for brushing)

Raw sugar

2 tablespoons honey

Details

For the crust:

Blend first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Remove lid; spoon 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Return lid to processor; using on/off turns, blend mixture until dough forms ball, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Flatten dough into disk; wrap in plastic and chill at least 20 minutes. 





For the filling:

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°F. Whisk first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add pears and figs; toss gently. Roll dough out on lightly floured parchment to 14-inch square or round. 

• 

  The fig and pear mixture in the rolled-out crostata crust.

  Transfer parchment with rolled-out crust to a baking sheet. Mound pear mixture with juices in center of crust, leaving 2- to 3-inch plain dough border. Using parchment as aid, fold dough up over edges of pear mixture, pleating edges and pinching to seal any cracks in dough, forming square or round. Brush crust edges with cream; sprinkle generously with raw sugar.

• 

  The crostata pre-baking with the sides pulled up around the filling and the outside brushed with heavy cream and sprinkled with raw sugar.

  Bake crostata until crust is golden, pears are tender, and juices are bubbling thickly, covering crust edges with foil if browning too quickly, 50 to 60 minutes. 
  
  
  Remove crostata from oven; drizzle 2 tablespoons honey over hot filling. Run long thin knife or spatula around edges of warm crostata to loosen. Cool crostata on parchment on baking sheet until slightly warm, at least 1 hour. Transfer to platter. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit