Peach Bourbon Crostata

I contemplated long and hard about giving you last years Peach Truck recipe. But I couldn’t resist upping the ante and letting my readers see our progression since our first year of amateur blogging. And yes, we still have a lot to learn. Any-who, you can find out all about Stephen and Jessica Rose and their Peach Truck adventures here.

The Summer time yields some of nature’s best gold. Stone fruit being at the top of my list and then I work my way down to berries and greens. The Peach Truck peaches are really good and all it took was two failed attempts before I obtained the little jewels that lie before you in this crostata.

I enjoy a nice slice of pie as much as the next person, but everyone does pie. And I don’t aim to give you average friends. My thought process typically involves Googling many a recipe and stalking many food blogs to see what hasn’t been done. And well, I don’t think you’ll be finding this somewhere else anytime soon. A crostata is a form of Italian pastry highly regarded for it’s versatility. You can make this dessert in a free-form format like I did, or use a tart or pie pan. The pastry can also be made smaller and enclosed with a lid for easier travel. Either way you decide to go about it, all forms are delicious.

I actually use the crostata dough recipe for the base of many dessert vehicles. I like the flavor and texture. It’s mildly sweetened from the butter, flaky and light(depending upon how thin you roll it out). One thing about using produce thats in season. If I’m going to make something where I want the filling to shine because its in season then I typically allow it’s vehicle to take a backseat. And these peaches don’t like sharin’ the spotlight ya’ll.

I consider this recipe to be a rather simple one. Some of the things I can conjure are pretty labor intensive. I hope you have your favorite summer fruit, canned preserves or maybe some Bavarian cream that will fit perfectly in this crostata. As for me y’all, it’s all about The Peach Truck.

What have you been baking with your #summergold?

Brown Sugar & Bourbon Simple Syrup

100 ml Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey
1/3 cup of Dark Brown Sugar

For Pie filling:

3 peaches pitted & sliced

Crostata Dough:

2 cups AP flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, small cubes
1/4 + ice cold water
1 teaspoon granulated sugar (decor)
1 egg yolk + heavy cream to brush shell

Directions (yields 2 crostatas)

1. In a 1.5 quart sauce pan. Combine bourbon and brown sugar over medium heat until all sugar is dissolved. Then allow to simmer for two to three minutes or until mixture is reduced by half. Mixture should be syrupy and coat the back of a spoon. Set aside and allow to cool.

2. Once mixture has cooled. add half of your sliced peaches and toss until all peaches are evenly coated. Allow to set for two hours or over night.

3. Place the first four ingredients of dough into a large mixing bowl. If you’re afraid to get dirty, then break out your food processor. You know the drill. If not, click here. Moving on, gently toss together the ingredients. Begin to pinch the butter while simultaneously mixing it in with the flour. Do this until you see pea size lumps begin to form.

4.Once mixture is mealy, add ice water two tablespoons at a time until dough comes together. You should be able to squeeze it and get clumps. but also be able to spot little specks of butter.

5.Pour dough onto lightly floured surface. Form into two balls and wrap in plastic wrap. let the dough rest for an hour or freeze up to a month if you’re only making one crostata.

6. Preheat oven to 425 15 minutes prior to removing dough from the fridge. Place dough on to lightly floured surface and roll out in to an 12-inch disk. During rolling, occasionally toss a little more flour underneath dough to deter from sticking.

7. Drain the juice from your peaches. Place peaches in a spiral pattern layering them one on top of the other. Or just throw them in the middle of the dough and spread’em. Just leave about 1 inch of dough all the way around so that you can encase your filling. Using a flat spatula or pizza peel slide tart on a lined or buttered sheet pan and bake for about 22-26 minutes. And if you’re at all familiar with baking. Then you know that no two ovens are alike.

Serving Suggestions:

In the photo, I garnished the crostata with the a vanilla bean chantilly cream. (recipe follows) And the finished tart was accompanied with some vanilla bean ice cream. To each his own but I prefer Blue Bell. And as always, opinions are all my own.

Vanilla Bean Chantilly
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 vanilla split and scraped
1/2 cup 10x (powdered sugar)
1. combine all ingredients in standing/hand held mixer. Whip for 3-4 minutes until mixture comes to stiff peaks or holds to your your beaters or whip attachment. Enjoy!

Author: Charles Hunter III

Hi. I'm Charles, a Personal Chef, Blogger & Recipe Developer. Welcome to The Salted Table. A space where I tell stories about food, life & living in Nashville, TN. View all posts by Charles Hunter III