Apparently the key to making great peach desserts is using nectarines, but substituting nectarines really isn’t a substitution at all. According to the purveyor of all knowledge, Wikipedia, “peaches and nectarines are the same species, even though they are regarded commercially as different fruits...genetic studies suggest nectarines are produced due to a recessive allele, whereas peaches are produced from dominant allele for fuzzy skin.” Basically, they’re like a blue-eyed cousin. I know, my mind was blown too.
It was with this new found appreciation for stone fruit genetics that I set out to the Atwater Village Farmers Market to get the ingredients for my Nectarine and Blackberry Crostata. For the uninitiated, a Crostata is a kind of free form pie originally from Italy. Like pie baking, it is key to keep your ingredients and tools cold. There is enough science behind pie-baking to fill three blog posts, and if you want to break out your Bunsen burner and distill dough down to an exact science I would refer you to Alton Brown. If you, like me, gravitate toward cooking because it’s NOT chemistry, just keep everything as cold as possible and hope for the best. In life isn’t that all we can do?
The Atwater Village market is particularly great because whatever additional ingredients you need can be picked up at Atwater Village Farm which is right across the street. In this recipe I usedCentral Milling Company cake flour and cornmeal, both of which I purchased there, after getting my nectarines and blackberries at the farm stands. Additionally, I also picked up a jar of apricot jam from Silver Lakes own, JamIam. You can find Carolyn Cooper selling her handcrafted preserves every Sunday at the Atwater Village Farmer’s Market.Crust
1 2/3 cups all cake flour
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1/4 cup coarse cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
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3/4 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup (or more) ice water
Combine first 5 ingredients in the food processor. Add butter; pulsing just until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces. Add 1/3 cup ice water. Using on/off turns, blend until dough comes together in moist clumps, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap; chill at least 1 hour (can be made the night before.)Filling
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 medium nectarines, each pitted and cut into 16 slices
1 1/2-pint basket blackberries
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Some Assembly Required
1 egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
Sugar
Apricot preserves, heated
Roll out dough on lightly floured sheet of parchment paper to 14-inch round.Transfer to a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator until dough firms slightly, about 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 375°F. After dough has chilled, remove from refrigerator and let stand 8 minutes to allow dough to soften slightly. Spoon fruit and juices into center of dough. Brush 2-inch border of dough with beaten egg. Lift about 2 inches of dough border and pinch to form vertical seam. Continue around tart, pinching seam every 2 inches to form standing border. Fold border down over fruit leaving approximately 6 inches of fruit uncovered. Brush folded border with egg glaze; sprinkle with sugar.
This recipe was adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.