Salted Bourbon Caramel Apple Crostata

The best of Autumn ingredients and fragrances meet a tender buttery Italian pastry.

Truly, this crostata will melt in your mouth!  A perfect dessert to finish an autumn roast turkey dinner, or even to bake up and serve with coffee for breakfast!

Pasta Frolla, Crostata Pastry

In Italian, this sweet short crust pastry is called  ‘pasta frolla’ or ‘tender dough’.  It is a most basic dough made from flour, butter, eggs, sugar and often lemon or orange zest.  It can be used for tarts, pies, biscuits etc.  The tenderness is such a wonderful quality of this pastry.  It melts in your mouth!  Once you have made this dough and used it, you will want to use it, and often!

Because butter is a main component of the dough, be prepared, it will be a bit more challenging to work with if you are looking for an easy dough to transport from counter to pan.  It does have a tendency to tear, especially if it has gotten a little warm.  So if you are trying to fill a tart shell with it, and it breaks, don’t worry.  Just patch it up with the pieces, and call it a day, it happens to everyone!!  But if you are working with smaller pieces (like the lattice) and you chill the dough a little before going to move and layer them on the tart, you will be fine.

This pastry can be made in a bowl.  All you need is two bowls, a whisk, box grater, fork and your hands. The egg and egg yolk add to the richness and colour of the pastry. The pastry also contains a little baking powder.  This means that the pastry will puff as it bakes.  Which differentiates it from a North American pie crust pastry. 

After bringing the ingredients together with a fork, you will use your hands and the counter to bring it together into a smooth mass.  Roll into a log, and divide into two pieces, one larger than the other.  Press them down into disks, wrap them in plastic wrap and chill till needed.  You can make this pasta frolla  the day before you need to use it. Just bring to room temperature before rolling. You can also freeze it for future crostata endeavours.   You can use this same recipe for my Marmalade Ricotta Crostata.

Apple Filling

The apple filling is prepared on the stove top, since the time in the oven will not be long enough to soften the apples sufficiently.  Also, cooking them down in a sauté pan means that excess moisture is cooked and evaporated out, making the filling less watery once it gets spooned onto the crostata bottom.

The filling is a simple combination of peeled and cubed apples, sugar, lemon juice and spices.  They all simmer together to gently soften them.  The flavours intensify making for a beautiful fragrant filling.

The other component of the filling is a good drizzle of my Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce.  If you know, you know!  If not, you need to head right on over to the recipe and make a batch!  You will be tempted to just eat it with a spoon, but of course, if there is any left, it goes amazing on just about anything.  Like my Salted Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie, Salted Bourbon Caramel Cheesecake on a Walnut Mesquite Crust, Apple Fritter Squares with Salted Bourbon Caramel Glaze.

Assemble

When ready to assemble. one disk of the crostata pastry gets rolled out and pressed into a 9 inch tart shell with a removable bottom.  Don’t worry if after rolling, it breaks a bit.  That’s all the butter in the pastry!  You can easily patch it directly in the tart shell, it won’t affect the finished presentation.

Next comes spooning out the spiced apples evenly over the pastry.  Drizzle with the caramel sauce.  And then you will take the remaining pastry and crumble it between your fingers (kind of like when you are making a crumble or streusel topping) and sprinkle the pastry evenly over the apples and caramel sauce.  Some pieces can  be larger, and some can be smaller.  There is really no wrong way to do this.  This method is a lovely alternative and much easier than the classic lattice crostata version.

After baking, the pastry will be golden brown and the crostata will be oh so fragrant! Finish with a good dusting of icing sugar.

Final Thoughts

Feel free to serve a slice of crostata as is with espresso or tea as a lovely sweet breakfast, or afternoon coffee break.  If you want to serve this as dessert, why not whip up some whipping cream till stiff, sweetened with maple syrup.  

This crostata will keep in a sealed container for up to five days.  It can be served cool or room temperature.

If you make this Salted  Bourbon Caramel Apple Crostata, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! It’s always lovely to hear from you guys, and I always do my best to respond to each comment or question. And of course, if you do make this recipe, and you post it on Instagram, don’t forget to also tag me so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is such a treat.

Love Jen

5 from 1 vote

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Salted Bourbon Caramel Apple Crostata

A tender, buttery pastry is the base and crumble topping for a fragrant, spiced apple filling. Adding a generous drizzle of salted bourbon caramel sauce sends this simple dessert somewhere special.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian, North American

Keyword apples, crostata, pasta frolla, salted bourbon caramel sauce

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

Pasta Frolla

• 305 g (2 1/2 cups) flour, can substitute cup for cup gluten free flour blend
• 105 g (1/2 cup) sugar
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 170 g (6 ounces, 12 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tbsp water if necessary

Apple Filling

• 2 large apples, or 3 medium apples
• 1/4 cup golden brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce, see Notes for link
• 2-3 tbsp icing sugar to finish
• whipped cream flavoured with maple syrup for serving

Instructions

Pasta Frolla

1. Combine the flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Using the large holes on your box grater, grate the butter into the flour mixture. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles sandy breadcrumbs.

2. Whisk together the egg, and egg yolk in a small bowl. Pour this into the flour mixture and use a fork to blend until everything is starting to come together. Switch to your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. On a dry day (winter heat) or if using a gluten free flour blend, you may need a bit more moisture to help this happen, so add a little water at a time as needed.

   Transfer to a clean counter and continue folding until it is smooth and well blended. Divide into the sections, one slightly larger than the other, about 1/3 and 2/3. Shape into flat disks and wrap well with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to rest. This can be even made the day before. Remove to the counter and let it warm up while you prepare the apple filling.

Apple Filling

1. Preheat the oven 350F (180C)
2. Peel, core and cut the apples into small cubes (about 3/4 inch or 2cmm cubes)
3. Add the peeled and cubed apples to a skillet, along with the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and lemon juice. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until gently softened but not mushy. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool down.
4. Line a 9 inch round fluted tart pan with removable bottom with a piece of round parchment at the bottom.
5. Take the larger disk of pastry and roll it out to fit into the tart pan, with enough to go up the sides by 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) Don't worry if the pastry tears or breaks, the butter makes it very tender. Just patch and gently press the dough to create an even bottom and sides.
6. Spoon the apple filling evenly over the bottom crust. Drizzle evenly with the Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce.
7. Take the remaining pastry, and using your fingers to break it up into small bits, scatter these over the apple filling. Different sizes of crumbs is fine, some larger and some smaller will create a lovely craggy top. Make sure to go to the edges, but don't worry if some of the filling peeks through. Don't feel obligated to use all of the pastry if you have covered the filling evenly.
8. Place the tart onto a rack set in the lower third of the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top and edges are lightly golden. If the pastry is baked through on the bottom, and the top isn't golden yet, move the crostata to the upper third of the oven to allow the heat to reach the top pastry. Keep an eye on it.
9. Allow the crostata to cool on a wire rack. When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar.
10. Serve with whipped cream flavoured with maple syrup.
11. Leftovers will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to five days.

Recipe Notes

Here is the link to my Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce