An Apple-Cream Crostata, or Crostata di Mela con Crema: The first time I visited Versilia, on the Tuscan coast (the town of Cinquale, to be exact), I discovered a bakery that had an astonishing selection of fresh fruit crostate. It's now a bicycle repair place, proof that change is not always synonymous with progress, but I'm happy to have found at least this recipe.
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- ** For The Topping **
- 4 large apples
- Apricot jam
- The juice of a half a lemon
- ** For The Crust **
- 3 cups flour
- 3/4 cup (150 g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
- 2 yolks
- The grated zest of a lemon
- ** For The Cream **
- 2 yolks
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup (250 ml) milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons sugar
Preparation:
Begin by making the crust: combine the ingredients, using a pastry cutter to keep from handling them, and roll the resulting dough out into not-too-thin sheet and use it to line a 10-inch or so pan, crimping the dough around the rim to form a lip.
Prepare the pastry cream by combining the ingredients and heating them while stirring gently over a low flame until the mixture thickens. Do not let it boil! (See instructions if need be.)
Once you have prepared the dough and the cream, peel and core the apples, and slice them thinly; sprinkle them with lemon juice to keep them from discoloring.
Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C). Pour out a layer of cream over the dough, and arrange the sliced apples over it. Dot the apples with bits of unsalted butter and dabs of apricot marmalade, dust the crostata with sugar, and bake it for at least 20 minutes.
Prepare the pastry cream by combining the ingredients and heating them while stirring gently over a low flame until the mixture thickens. Do not let it boil! (See instructions if need be.)
Once you have prepared the dough and the cream, peel and core the apples, and slice them thinly; sprinkle them with lemon juice to keep them from discoloring.
Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C). Pour out a layer of cream over the dough, and arrange the sliced apples over it. Dot the apples with bits of unsalted butter and dabs of apricot marmalade, dust the crostata with sugar, and bake it for at least 20 minutes.
