Go Back
fig crostada :the wimpy vegetarian
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Fig Crostada

 
Cuisine: dessert
Author: Susan Pridmore

Ingredients

Crostata Crust

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (13.5 ounces, when weighed)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • Zest from ½ of a navel orange or other medium sized orange
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 18 tablespoons unsalted butter chopped into small pats
  • 5 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on the lattice
  • Apple Cider Syrup for brushing on the lattice

Fig Jam Filling

  • 2 pints of fresh figs I used Black Mission Figs
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2 ounces 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons Apple Cider Syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Zest from 1 navel orange
  • 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • 5 cardamom pods
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon honey I used orange blossom honey

Instructions

Crostata Crust

  • Combine the flour, sugar, orange zest, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Pulse a few times to disperse the sugar, zest, and salt through the flour. Add the butter all at once and pulse 10 - 12 times until the butter pieces are the size of peas. This can be best checked by removing the lid of the processor and lift some of the flour mixture with a fork.
  • Add 4 tablespoons of the water, along with with vinegar and pulse the dough until you can tell the consistency is changing - that it's just starting to come together as a dough. Remove the lid of the processor. The mixture should still look like flour, but clumped together in a few places. Pinch the mixture to see if it will hold together as a dough. If so, you're done with the processor. If not, add another tablespoon of water, or more, until it does.
  • Spill the contents out onto a clean workspace and knead two-three times to bring the flour into a dough. Schmear the dough four time across the work space with the heel of your hand. This technique is called fraissage, and is critical to getting a flakey crust.
  • Divide the dough into two sections, with one section roughly twice the size of the other. Form them into two disks and wrap in wax paper. The large disk will be used for the base and sides of the tart; the smaller for the lattice. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, ideally one hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Roll out the larger disk between two pieces of wax paper to fit the tart pan. I rolled mine out quite a bit bigger than the pan so that I could fold the crust down all around the pan to double the dough wall on the sides of the tart. This helps prevent the sides from collapsing during blind baking.
  • Line your tart pan with the dough, tucking it into the corners, and folding down the edges to double the thickness of the sides. The tart pan I used is rectangular with a removable bottom, and measures 8" X 11". 
  • Dock the dough by pricking the dough with a fork a whole bunch of times.
  • Line the tart with parchment paper and pie weights or dried beans.
  • Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and slip into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the dough starts to set up. You may need to press parts of the base down if they're lifting from the heat. Remove the parchment paper and weights, and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, or until the crust is very lightly browned.
  • While it's baking, form the lattice top. Roll out the smaller disk of dough to roughly ⅛" thick and cut into strips.
  • Remove from the oven and spread evenly with Fig Jam Filling using a spatula.
  • Form the lattice top by weaving the lattice strips.
  • Lightly brush the lattice with water and sprinkle turbinado, or raw sugar, on top. Reduce the heat to 400 degrees F, and bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the the lattice is a golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and immediately baste the lattice with the Apple Cider Syrup.
  • Allow the crostata to cool for 10 minutes and removed from the tart pan. Serve warm.

Fig Jam Filling

  • Stem and quarter the figs, and place in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the orange juice, butter, Apple Cider Syrup, salt, orange zest, and brown sugar, and bring to a simmer.
  • Crack open the cardamom pods with the flat side of a chef's knife, and grind the seeds in a spice grinder. Add to the fig jam, along with the dried thyme. Lower the heat and continue to simmer the jam until it becomes thick and the figs are completely broken down, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and coarsely mash (I used a potato masher). Stir in the honey.

Notes