Cherry Crostata

I was at the store and they had organic cherries for a very good price, so I bought over 10 pounds. Now I must figure out what to do with them. I ate a whole bowl, but I still have like 9 pounds left. Hmm? Apple crostata was really good, so lets make it with cherries.

I don't have a cherry pitter, so I used a straw to push the pit out.

Cherry Crostata

Crust

1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup cake flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon cold butter, cut into ½ inch cubes

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons water, ice cold
1 tablespoon vodka

To make the crust, pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse a 5 times. Add the oil, water and vodka and pulse until the dough forms little pebbles. Dump onto work surface and press the pebbles together. Refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling
5 cups pitted fresh cherries, about 1 1/2 pounds
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Combine all in a bowl and toss to combine.

To assemble, place the crust dough on parchment paper (or silpat, but not wax paper) and sprinkle with flour. Roll to about 11 inch circle and put the parchment on baking sheet. Place the cherries all around, except leave 2 inch border empty. Fold the dough over the filling using the parchment paper to help you. Brush the sides with milk or heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse or plain sugar.

Bake crostata in the center of the oven at 400 F for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove and cool for at least 3 hours at room temperature. Crostata is even better if you refrigerate it because the juices firm up and the cherries taste better cold.

Cut into 8 slices with a serrated knife. It is best to cut the crostata by firmly pressing on the knife across the whole crostata. Cutting in sawing motion will cause it to crumble. Dust with powdered sugar before serving if you like.

Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.