Raspberry Crostata

I think I love rustic tarts, or crostatas, more than pies. They look all cozy and non-threatening and don’t have too much crust, showing off their lush, colorful, fruity interiors. They definitely do not instill fear in the amateur cook who fears pastry disasters.

This raspberry crostata comes together so quickly and works perfectly as written. It lets me use my favorite old-fashioned tool, a wire pastry cutter, the way I first learned how to cut butter into a dough. And with a recipe this small, you aren’t in the least tempted to use your food processor.

I also placed an 8-inch round of paper under the bottom parchment paper to use as a visual guide when rolling out the dough for size, although if you have a pastry rollout sheet with all the size markings, that works too! Even if some sugary juices gush out while baking, by the time the pastry is cooled for serving, it is fine. Just don’t be tempted to put your finger in the hot sugar when removing the crostata from the oven. It’s hot enough to burn or create burnt sugar art but not on your hand!

Delicious and perfect for 4 people (or 2 very lucky people who get dessert 2 days in a row). I lightly spooned some raspberry preserve on top, drizzled with crème fraîche and ta-da! Happy Tuesday! (But you should feel free to make this any day of the week). Perfect amount of sweetness without feeling heavy.

Once I master a basic recipe for spur-of-the-minute desserts, with a variety of fruit tempting me, I have to try a recipe again, and this worked beautifully with cherries (pitted please) blackberries, and I am sure it is going to work with blueberries, which now seem to be available year-round! Bonus points: we truly love leftover crostata for breakfast with some yogurt.

This little raspberry crostata is exactly how a crostata should be—honest, rustic, and a breeze to make. What more do you need than a good, flaky crust and a simply prepared, delicious filling? Not much at all, if you ask me!

After about 1 1/2 hours of cooling to room temperature, the filling, while still juicy, congealed a bit yet the crust didn’t become soggy. You can definitely pick up a wedge and eat it with your hand—I’d make this for a picnic.

The consistency of the filling was good, and we enjoyed the tartness of the fruit. Next time I’d add just enough flour and sugar to coat the berries. I rolled my crust to 9 inches in diameter, and the extra wiggle room made it a little easier to fold the edges of the crust.

I could easily eat 2 wedges—half of the pie—in a single sitting! I didn’t use raspberry jam to make the surface shiny. I didn’t feel the extra step was necessary; it’s a free-form country pie, after all.

What a lovely, simple recipe! The dough is very easy to work with. Hands-on time was no more than 15 minutes. I could see popping the prepared crostata into the oven at the beginning of a romantic dinner and sharing it for dessert.

Although the instructions say to let it cool completely before serving, and I did so to delicious results, the raspberry crostata would be very nice while slightly warm from the oven with a dollop of whipped cream or, in my lactose-intolerant case, coconut whipped cream. I would also love to see variations of this raspberry crostata recipe with different fruits.

It was the size that drew me to this raspberry crostata—it’s not too hard to find dinner-for-two recipes, but dessert-for-two is a rare bird. And the result was not only diminutive and adorable, but it came together quickly and easily and tasted great. What more could you want?

The dough had a soft texture that made it really easy for me, a pie novice, to work. It folded beautifully over the raspberries, and the whole thing was just gorgeous. And the whole thing can be done in less than an hour and a half.

My one regret is that I didn’t taste my raspberries before baking. They were very tart, so tart that the sugar in the recipe wasn’t enough to stand up to them. When I make this again (and I will, soon), I will adjust the sugar to match the fruit.

I added a dollop of crème fraîche because that’s what I had on hand, but the tartness of the fruit made me think that lightly sweetened whipped cream would be better (or ice cream, but you don’t need me to tell you that…). I can tell that this is going to become a staple in my house. I’m already excited to make it again. This would serve 2 greedy people, or 3 more moderate people (especially with the addition of something creamy).

This easy-to-prepare raspberry crostata was a great transition from winter to spring baking. It’s small, light, and packed with fruit so it doesn’t feel too heavy or indulgent, and the sweetness of the raspberries is balanced by the crisp, buttery crust. I also love that this recipe can be made by hand; no need to dirty the stand mixer!

After baking the crostata, I was too impatient to wait for it to fully cool, so I ate a slice when it was still hot, which I found to be lackluster. But after a day in the refrigerator, with time for the flavors to mingle, and a brief reheating in the toaster oven, my husband and I thought it was delicious! We’re hoping to adapt this recipe for other fruits and to give savory crostatas a try, too.

An additional 1 tablespoon water made the dough come together perfectly. At some point in the making of the dough, I added a couple pinches extra flour (perhaps while rolling it out?) to combat some stickiness.

I recommend using the coarse sugar on the crust for a little extra sweetness and texture. A few of the berries on the top of my crostata still had white sugar/flour powder on them at the end of the bake, but this was rendered more aesthetically pleasing (and delicious!) with the addition of raspberry jam.

I ignored the recipe’s suggestion to wait until completely cool and added the warmed jam shortly after removing the crostata from the oven. I found this worked really well as the jam easily adhered to the warm fruit and then cooled with the fruit.

This raspberry crostata was the perfect small dessert. We don’t eat many desserts on weekdays, and this was a nice little treat for midweek. We are a family of 3, and we split the pie. We were left wanting more, so I think the pie would make 2 modest servings or 1 really decadent serving, if you are in the mood to really indulge.

The crust was nice and crisp, even on the bottom, and the raspberry filling really was a tribute to the bright freshness of the fruit. After 20 minutes chilling, the dough was still very soft. I was impatient, so I put the dough in the freezer for another 20 minutes before rolling it out. Then it was the perfect texture, not too hard or too soft—Goldilocks dough!

We ate our crostata slightly warm, since we were too impatient to let it cool. The pie held together just fine after cutting, and we could have eaten it out of hand, as the author directs, but we ended up using forks and plates.

I skipped the optional jam glaze. I didn’t think the pie needed any more raspberry flavor. And I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to dirty another bowl and a pastry brush.

My fellow testers (son and husband) thought the dough was a bit bland. I used salted butter since that’s what I had on hand, as well as the salt called for in the recipe. I would’ve liked even a touch more salt. The boys thought a dash of vanilla in the crust would’ve added extra flavor. My husband also wanted a flakier crust, but I liked the crust as it was, not too fragile or too buttery to eat with one’s fingers.

I loved this recipe. It was quick to put together, the directions were clear, and the results were perfect! I used the full 3 tablespoons water, and the resulting dough was easy to roll. The egg wash and coarse sugar gave the crostata a sweet and crunchy finish. Less than 10 minutes after it came out of the oven, the “pick-up pie” was entirely consumed!

Since I like baking, we end up eating a lot of leftover pies, cakes, and cookies. Although my husband doesn’t mind, my waistline does! So it’s great to bake something that is just the right size for 2 or 3. We both had a nice piece of this raspberry crostata and even had a little left for the next day.

The portions were perfect. Next time, I’d add a little orange zest to the raspberries. They were very tart, and I liked the crostata that way, but if you would like it a little sweeter, you can always add a little more sugar to the raspberry mixture or even some honey or raspberry jam.

I didn’t have to add any additional water to the dough. It rolled out well, but remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect—it’s rustic. The crostata came out looking quite pretty. I added the warm raspberry jam before serving. I think it would be great with some vanilla ice cream!

What a fun little dessert! The dough took no time to put together. It was a beautiful little crostata, the crust nicely browned and shiny. I let it cool and then cut it into wedges. The crust tasted good and had a nice texture. The raspberries could be substituted by strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc. This is a quick and easy dessert, and it makes for a nice presentation. It just wasn’t quite sweet enough for me. Next time I’ll add more sugar to the raspberries.

It was very easy to prepare this very delicate dessert and it was perfect with a cup of hot tea on a chilly night. My raspberries did not become runny or mushy but held their shape beautifully.