Apple Crumb Crostata with Bacon Toffee Sauce

Jamie is in Minneapolis right now, she sent a quick pic of herself bundled up in her down jacket, gloves, wooly hat with a single caption, 26.

Yep, I am a wussy Californian and not a very nice one, I replied with a laughing emoji in shorts.

I mark the change in seasons, not by dragging out a winter wardrobe but by the offerings at my local Farmers Market.  My favorite Fall fruit has finally arrived APPLES!  Apples are like that best friend after a breakup.  The summer romance with peaches and berries is over but apples are here to comfort you, pick you up, and help you forget them.

Like a kid in a candy store, I went from basket to basket picking up Mutsuis, Pippens, Jonagolds, and Fujis. I love using a combination of apples in pies and tart for both flavor and texture.  Recently, Apple Crumb Crostata by Claudia Fleming, pastry chef extraordinaire at Gramercy Tavern once upon a time and author of the fabulous book, The Last Course, popped up on my NYT feed. Everything I have made from her book has been delicious so when I spied the crostata recipe, it was a no-brainer.  The homemade apple pie I usually bake to signal Fall’s arrival would have to wait.

The moving parts to this recipe, pastry crust, apples, crumb topping, and Bacon Toffee Sauce that sends this over the top.

A Couple of Tips

I had a tough time rolling the dough out to 14 inches.  It would have been pretty thin.  I ended it up a diameter of 12.5 inches at best.  Which means after folding the edges over my crostata was barely 8 inches.  You might be able to roll it to 13 inches.  I used approximately 5 apples for a scant 6 cups of apples, plenty of apples for this size crust.  I took the advice of others on NYT cooking and halved the amount of crumb topping and the bacon toffee sauce.  I still have plenty of sauce left even though the tart is long gone.  The sauce is delish over ice cream or fruit.

The crust is made in a food processor which though speedy, requires due diligence to not overprocess the dough.  Over-processing leads to a tough crust.  The pulse button on your processor is your best friend.  Throw the flour, sugar, and salt into the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times to blend.  Add the butter and pulse just until you have an oatmeal-like mixture with some pea-sized pieces of butter left.  Add ICE-COLD water through the chute while hitting the pulse button to combine.  Pulse just until the mixture looks like it is going to clump and come together and STOP or you will over-process the dough.  Pour the dough out onto a wax paper or plastic wrap, and smoosh it together into a ball.  Flatten into a disc, wrap it and toss it in the fridge to chill and rest.

Just pinch and fold over.  My fold-over was less than 4 inches, more like 2.5-3 inches.  Here is the link to the NYT recipe and video with Claudia Fleming and Mark Bittman.

What to do with the bacon I fried for the Toffee Sauce?  Baco-bits on the crostata! Ok, it might have been overkill.

I served the crostata with BOTH the yummy, decadent Bacon Toffee Sauce and vanilla ice cream, cuz’…

Go Big or Go Home

Put this on your Fall bucket list!

Print Pin

Apple Crumb Crostata with Bacon Toffee Sauce

It's Fall! Apple season is here. Absolutely delicious apple crostata by Claudia Fleming

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Apple Crumb Crostata, Claudia Fleming, Dessert

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• ⅓ cup ice cold water more as needed
• 1 egg beaten or use heavy cream
• Raw sugar for garnish

Filling

• 6 to 8 Granny Smith or other tart apples peeled and cut into slices (about 6 cups total)
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces optional

The Crumble

• Make half recipe! It's plenty!
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1/4 cup pecans, chopped optional

Bacon toffee sauce

• Make half recipe!!! It makes plenty!!!!
• 1 ½  cups heavy cream
• 1  (1-pound) box dark brown sugar
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 5  ounces (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2  ounces rendered bacon fat (from about 4 slices thick-cut bacon)

Instructions

• Make the crust: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Add butter, pulsing, until mixture resembles small peas. Add ice water and continue to pulse until mixture just begins to come together in moist clumps; if mixture is too dry add a bit more water a tablespoon at a time. Gather dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour or freeze for up to a month.
• Make the filling: In a large bowl toss together sliced apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, zest and vanilla. Set aside.
• Make the crumble: In a medium bowl, mix together granulated sugar, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle in melted butter and, using a fork, stir until mixture is crumbly and all the flour is incorporated; the crumbs should be smaller than 1 inch. Add chopped pecans if desired.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 14-inch circle (if you're lucky). Transfer to baking sheet and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Remove baking sheet from refrigerator and let soften for 1 to 2 minutes. Arrange apples in the center of the dough, dot with butter, leaving a 3-inch border all around; reserve the juices. Brush exposed dough border with beaten egg and fold edge in up over fruit, making pleats every 2 inches. Pour remaining juices over exposed fruit, brush the folded outer edge with beaten egg or cream, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Cover exposed fruit with about 1 cup crumble.
• Bake crostata until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove and let cool before serving. Serve with Bacon Toffee Sauce

Bacon Toffee Sauce

• In a heavy medium saucepan, combine cream, sugar, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, and allow to cook for 3 to 5 minutes being careful not to let it get too hot and bubble over.
• Remove from heat and whisk in butter followed by bacon fat; stir until thoroughly combined. Serve sauce warm.
• Can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 10 days.