Carefree Apricot Crostata (with the Flakiest & Butteriest Crust)
An Ooey Gooey Sweetness with a Buttery, Flaky Crust
This Carefree Apricot Crostata recipe captures the fresh sweetness of summer in an ooey-gooey apricot filling with a flaky, buttery crust.
Summer spells stone fruit season, with apricots as the first to bloom and fruit. What better way to capture the best of the season than by making an easy, rustic sweet summer delight? This Carefree Apricot Crostata makes the perfect summer dessert featuring the juiciness of apricots with just the right amount of sweetness.
Ooey Gooey with a Buttery, Flaky Crust
Crostata-Wha? What's a Crostata?
You know pies, right? Great.
Now, enter the CROSTATA. It’s like a pie – same pillar parts (e.g., crust and fruit filling), oven-baked, etc. — but made simpler. No pie pan needed. No specific shape to conform to. Just fruit filling over rolled-out dough in no particular form and whose edges are loosely folded or, in this case, crimped, over. It’s a rustic baked perfection.
In fact, there’s nothing more “wabi sabi” and “gangsta” in the baking world than the crostata.
Say, "F***-It," to conformity and
"Hello!!," to the crostata.
Say “F***-it,” to conformity. “F***-it,” to fitting a specific mold!!
And “HELLO!,” to the CROSTATA!
Baking with no particular style or shape at all. Just some free-spirited sweetneess with a flaky and buttery crust — in whatever form it feels like.
No pie pan? Not in the mood to make something perfect? MAKE A CROSTATA!
Pie vs Galette vs Crostata vs Tart....What's the Difference?
You’ve heard of pies and maybe you’ve heard of galettes. But what’s a crostata? And what’s a tart?
Let’s take a second to get acquainted with some dessert taxonomy.
Defining Features:
- Pie – Fruit filling. Fits in a pie pan. Has a bottom crust AND a top crust (in various styles)
- Galette – Think of it as a free-form pie. A rustic delight made without a care in the world for a particular shape or size. Same fruit filling but the crust is on the bottom only and slightly folded over.
- Crostata – Crostata and Galettes are essentially synonymous with one key difference: galettes are French and crostatas are Italian. The same fruit (or savory) filling with a free-form, almost amorphous shape with a crust that’s gently crimped and folded over.
- Tart – The most polished and well put-together baked pie-dessert of them all. The tart uses a specific tart pan and is known for its attention to detail. (We’ll stick with the crostata 😀 )
Grown Locally
Usually, we can’t wait to showcase our recipe ingredients that are grown from our very own regenerative garden — and while we do have an apricot tree — the squirrels don’t leave any apricots for us!! Every season, they get to them first and leave us with absolutely none. 🙁
So we picked a few of these apricots from a local orchard instead at The John Muir Historic Site where the trees are almost 50 years old! You can’t technically pick any fruits, but I did find a few fallen gently bruised and perfectly plump apricots, just enough for this Crostata.
Recipe Notes - How to Make the Carefree Apricot Crostata
TOTAL TIME: About 1 hour and 15 minutes total (slow baking makes for good gooeyness)
- Crust: 15 minutes
- Pie Filling: 5 minutes
- Baking time: 50-55 minutes
- TOTAL: 1 hour and 15 minutes
SERVES: 10-15 sweet tooths
EQUIPMENT:
- a large mixing bowl (for the dough/crust)
- a small mixing bowl (for the apricot filling)
- a baking sheet
- a roller (to flattent the dough)
- clean flat surface (or big cutting board) for rolling
- a paint brush (to wash the egg white over the crostata)
Ingredients
This Apricot Crostata comes in two main parts: 1) the dough/crust and the 2) fruit filling.
The Dough/Crust:
- All-purpose flour – 1.5 cups
- Salt – 1/2 tsp (kosher or table, fine)
- Butter, Unsalted – 1/2 cup (quickly heated in microwave for 10 seconds to soften and make it easy — bc I forget to pre-soften butter all the time)
- Egg – 1 large egg
- Water – 2 tbsp, cold
- White Distilled Vinegar – 1/2 tbsp
The Apricot Filling:
- Apricots – 5-7 diced (pitted and you can leave the skin on).
- Ceylon Cinammon – 2 light dashes
- White Granulated Sugar – 1 tsp (or 2 tsp, if you like it sweeter)
Finishing Touch:
- 1 egg white – to wash over the crostata crust and apricto filling to give it a nice shine once baked
Instructions
Here are the step-by-step instructions for making this Apricot Crostata.
- Pre-heat over to 375 degrees F
- Make the dough/crust – combine all dough/crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Keep kneeding — I just use my hands — until smooth.
- Once the dough is smooth, empty it out on a clean surface (large cutting board ok) — NOTE: sprinkle flour on the board/surface first to prevent sticking from the dough
- Gently roll out and flatten in no particular form or shape until about 1 cm thick (NOTE: if using a roller, make sure to coat it with flour first to prevent sticking from the dough)
- Once flattened, carefully transfer onto a lightly greased/oiled baking sheet (NOTE: I just take some cooking oil and drizzle a bit over the pan and smooth over the surface with my fingers)
- For the Apricot Filling — Pit the aprictos and dice, leaving the skins. Toss into a small mixing bowl, and add in the ceylon cinnamon and sugar. Mix together.
- Pour fruit filling into the center of the dough, leaving about 1/2 an inch of a boarder from the edges
- Once apricots are poured in, gently crimp the edges in and upward toward the apricot filling, high enough to tuck in the apricots, and over enough to your liking (I just like enough of an edge, but you can fold over more for a double-crusting). Make sure the apricot filling is tucked in, aka no leaks from the crevices.
- Wash/Brush over with egg white – over the crust and apricot filling. This will give the crostata a nice shine as it bakes in the oven.
- Place in the oven for about 50-55 minutes at 375 degrees F (until apricots are looking pretty gooey and crust is golden brown)
Kitchen Notes
This Carefree Apricot Crostata is pure sweet and simple baked goodness. Some notes to keep in mind as you make it at home:
- Free-form it! The beauty of the crostata is that there’s no particular shape or form to follow. Crimp, fold the edges for whatever shape of crust suits your fancy.
- If you like things a little sweeter, add another tsp of sugar. The recipe calls for 1 tsp, but add another if you like things on the sweeter side. But if you prefer your sweets to be “not too sweet”, then keep it to the 1 tsp.
- If you don’t have ceylon cinammon, substitute for regular (cassia) cinammon. Ceylong is more fragrant in flavor and apparently the healthier kind of cinammon for ya.
- Just heat up the butter in the microwave for 10 seconds. It’s a quick way to soften the butter. I always forget to leave it out ahead of time, so this simple trick works wonders.
- EAT THE CROSTATA AS SOON AS IT STARTS TO COOL FOR THE ULTIMATE FLAKY AND BUTTERY CRUST EXPERIENCE! Of course, you don’t have to. But believe me, you want that flakiness.
- Storage – Keep whatever leftover Carefree Apricot Crostata there is at room temperature overnight. If for longer, then keep it covered and in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. You can freeze this too.
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- It’s got the perfect ooey-gooeyness paired with the flakiest, butteriest crust. The natural texture of the apricot creates the perfect ooey-gooey consistency. And the crust. Oh, don’t get me started on how buttery and flaky – and slightly savory – the crust is. Paired together and you’ve got a perfect balance in flavors.
- It’s as simple as baking gets! With just a baking sheet, create it to whatever shape and vibe you’re in the mood for.
- It’s a total crowd-pleaser! It’s pretty and it’s sweet. Bake it when you’ve got guests over, or take it over to a dinner party. It’s a total treat that everyone will love.
- Plus, it passes the one-hand snackability test for parties and potlucks (i.e., grab a piece and bite; no utensils and no other hand required for snacking while mingling). I got ya.
Pretty & Sweet - Perfect for Parties!
In the Mood for More Desserts?
Try our other simple dessert items — all made with the fruit grown from our very own regenerative garden. Give it a try!
Carefree Apricot Crostata (with the flakiest & butteriest crust)
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl for the dough/crust
- 1 small mixing bowl for the apricot filling
- 1 baking sheet to bake the crostata in
- 1 roller to roll out the dough
- clean flat surface for rolling (big cutting board will do too)
- 1 paint brush to wash the egg white over the crostata
Ingredients
The Dough/Crust
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt kosher or table, fine
- 1/2 cup butter, unsalted quickly heat in microwave for 10 seconds to soften - quick fix bc I forget to pre-soften butter all the time
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 1/2 tbsp white distilled vinegar
The Fruit Filling
- 5-7 apricots (you only need enough for a single layer of apricot) pitted, diced, and with skins left on
- 2 light dashes ceylon cinammon regular/cassia cinammon is fine
- 1 tsp white granulated sugar If you like your desserts sweeter, add another tsp (for 2 tsp total)
Finishing Touch
- 1 egg white to give the crostata a nice shine
Instructions
- Pre-heat over to 375 degrees F
The Dough/Crust
- Combine all dough/crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Keep kneeding --- I just use my hands -- until smooth and ingredients are combined.
- Once the dough is smooth, empty it out on a clean surface (large cutting board ok) -- NOTE: sprinkle flour on the board/surface first to prevent sticking from the dough
- Gently flatten until about 1 cm thick (NOTE: if using a roller, make sure to coat it with flour first to prevent sticking from the dough). Roll/flatten into whatever shape suits your fancy.
- Once flattened, carefully transfer onto a lightly greased/oiled baking sheet (NOTE: I just take some cooking oil and lightly drizzle a bit over the pan and smooth over the surface with my fingers)
The Apricot Filling
- Pit the apricots and dice, leaving the skins. Toss into a small mixing bowl, and add in the ceylon cinnamon and sugar. Mix together.
- Pour apricot filling into the center of the dough, leaving about 1/2 an inch of a boarder from the edges
Bringing it all together
- Once apricots are poured in, gently crimp the edges in and upward toward the apricot filling, high enough to tuck in the apricots, and over enough to your liking (I just like enough of an edge, but you can fold over more for a double-crusting). Make sure the apricot filling is tucked in, aka no leaks from the crevices.
- Wash/Brush over with egg white - over the crust and apricot filling. This will give the crostata a nice shine as it bakes in the oven.
- Place in the oven for about 50-55 minutes at 375 degrees F (until apricots are looking pretty gooey and crust is golden brown)
Let us know what you think!
Did you try this recipe? Leave us a comment below or share with someone who might get a kick out of this simple, tasty dish.
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Cooking feeds the soul, not just the stomach.
Imperfectly Wabi Sabi recipes are focused on creating simple, cozy comfort foods by blending family tradition, creative ways to “use what we got” – food scraps, left-overs, and all – and by using what’s in season from our very own regenerative Garden.
There’s no wasting around here. Only garden-to-table and family tradition wrapped tastefully together. Happy Wabi Sabi eats.
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