Cranberry Almond Crostata
Cranberries are a rarity, even to this day, in Italy, so this crostata represents an achievement that’s uniquely Italian-American. Though many crostatas employ jam, this one gets its zest from fresh cranberries cooked down and paired with an almond-scented crust—and the proportion of filling to crust is perfection.
Source: GOURMET Magazine, November 2007
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw almonds, toasted and cooled
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 ¼ sticks unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten, divided
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees with a foil-lined large baking sheet on middle rack. Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan.
- Roll out one piece of dough between two sheets of parchment paper into a 12-inch round. The dough will be very tender.
- Remove top sheet of parchment and invert dough into springform pan. The dough will tear easily but can be patched together with your fingers.
- Press dough over bottom and up side of the pan, trimming dough to reach 1/2 inch up side of pan. Chill shell in refrigerator.
- Roll out remaining dough into a 12-inch round in same manner. Remove top sheet of paper, then cut dough into 10 (1/3-inch) strips with a pastry wheel and slide (still on parchment paper) onto a tray. Freeze strips until firm, about 10 minutes.
- Spread filling in chilled shell and arrange 5 strips 1-inch apart on filling. Arrange remaining 5 strips 1-inch apart diagonally across the first strips to form a lattice with diamond-shaped spaces. Trim edges of all strips flush with the edge of shell.
- Brush lattice top with reserved beaten egg and sprinkle top of crostata with granulated sugar.
- Place crostata pan on hot baking sheet in preheated oven and bake until pastry is golden and filling is bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. (If pastry is too brown after 30 minutes, cover loosely with aluminum foil.)
- Cool crostata completely in pan on a rack, 1 ½ to 2 hours, to allow juices to thicken.
Yields: 8 servings
