This glorious cherry apricot crostata is great for a crowd or a table for one.

This dessert perfectly sums up early summer. Right about now you should be able to find cherries and apricots at your farmer’s market or grocery store. Both of these fruits can be tricky when you eat them on their own. Sometimes they are mushy, too watery, or maybe they just don’t have any flavor. Have no fear when selecting fruit for this dessert. 

The beauty of this tart is when the fruit, combined with a hint of sugar, cooks, the flavors intensify and complement each other. Sounds simple, which is why I nominate this dessert as your annual welcome-to-summer slice. 

For the Dough

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons sugar (tsp?)

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening

1 glass chilled ice water

Additional baking equipment

1 tart pan

Rolling pin

Pastry cutter (or 2 forks)

For the FilLing

1 pint of cherries

6 medium apricots

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks

Flaky salt (like Maldon Sea Salt Flakes) (link tk)

To Make Tart Dough

Chunk up 6 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons shortening. Cut butter and shortening into flour. Add approximately 6 teaspoons of chilled water to dough mixture until it all forms into a single ball. Flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic and chill (preferably) overnight.

Baking Day

Remove chilled dough disc from fridge. Sprinkle one teaspoon of flour on surface, spread around with your fingers, and put flour on rolling pin. Roll dough one or two times, turning a quarter until it resembles the shape of your tart pan. Once the dough is the right shape, lift from the surface and wrap around your rolling pin, flour side out. Gently unroll the dough with the flour side up over tart pan. Do not stretch dough. Place on tart pan. Trim edges if needed. If there is extra dough, tuck along edge of pan to absorb juices. Place dough in the freezer while you prep fruit.

To Make FilLing

Wash and pit cherries. Place in a bowl. Wash and remove pits from apricots. Cut into quarters. Place in a separate bowl.

Assembly

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Place quartered apricots skin side down around dough. Sprinkle pitted cherries around the apricots in empty spots. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over the fruit. Dot the top with cubed 2 tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of flaky salt. 

Cooking Times

Place in preheated oven @ 425 degrees for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, set the oven to 375 for 20 minutes. After that, set the oven to 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. 

Serve On The Side

Fresh whipped cream

Pro Tip

Bake the the crostata on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Clean up will be much easier.