Cherry Mascarpone Cheese Crostata - The next time that you're looking for an easy to bake dessert that's sure to impress, try this cherry mascarpone crostata. With minimal prep time, you can create this rustic masterpiece, with a golden-brown pie crust, rich mascarpone filling, and sweet cherries.
We were inspired to make this cherry mascarpone tart by a few things. Cherries are a favorite fruit in our house, for one, and the sweet mascarpone filling in this makes a perfect mixture of flavor and texture. Everyone loves a pie, right? Well, with this rustic Italian pie, it puts a whole new spin on that favorite dessert, (and you don't need a fancy tart tin with a removable bottom),!
If you've come looking to add yummy fruit flavors to your dessert recipe repertoire, this is the place! We have more tart cherries in our cherry bread pudding, as well as plenty of other fruity sweet treats. Raspberry buckle is super easy to make. How about peaches? We have a great peach cobbler recipe, and our peach zucchini bread is one of our most popular creations.
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What You're Going to Need!
- Tender Pie Dough Recipe - if you'd rather not make our flaky dough from scratch, feel free to use store-bought pie dough.
- Frozen cherries- almost any kind of tart fruit will work here, as well as fresh cherries, see "variations" below.
- Mascarpone cheese - I like to refer to this as " the closest that cheese gets to unsalted butter"
- Black pepper - this ingredient has a surprising affinity for pairing with cherry flavor.
- Lemons- both for lemon zest, as well as lemon juice.
See recipe card for quantities.
Recipe
Cherry and Mascarpone Cheese Crostata
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Set your oven temperature to 400℉
- In a 4-quart saucepan combine the cherries, the zest of 1 lemon, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, and sugar. Place the pan on medium heat and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl combine the corn starch and the juice of 2 lemons, stir to combine creating a smooth paste.
- Add the corn starch mixture to the cherry mixture and bring to a boil stirring until the mixture is thickened.
- Place the cherry mixture into a shallow pan, and place the pan into the refrigerator until cool to touch.
- In a mixing bowl combine the Mascarpone cheese, egg, zest of 1 lemon, heavy cream, sugar, and salt. Use a wire whisk to combine until smooth.
- Spray a parchment-lined baking sheet with pan release spray.
- Place the rolled-out pie dough onto the parchment paper.
- Spoon the Mascarpone cheese mixture onto the dough, then spread the cooled cherry mixture onto the cheese mixture.
- Carefully fold the edges of the dough up and around the tart, creating a crimped wall.
- Place the crostata into the center rack of the preheated oven for 17 minutes, then turn the pan and continue to bake for 17-18 minutes until evenly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven a cool on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Garnish with powdered sugar and enjoy!
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!How to Make a Cherry & Mascarpone Cheese Tart
- Combine the cherries, lemon zest, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and black pepper in a saucepan. Combine the juice of 2 lemons and the corn starch, creating a slurry.
2. Add the corn starch mixture to the cherry mixture and bring to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until thickened. Place the cooked cherry mixture into a shallow pan and place it in the refrigerator until cool to the touch.
3. Gather the ingredients for the Mascarpone cheese mixture.
4. Using a wire whisk, mix the cheese topping until fully combined. You can use an electric mixer on low speed for this also.
5. Place the rolled-out pie dough onto a baking sheet pan, lined with parchment paper and sprayed with pan release spray. Spread the cheese, followed by the cherries evenly in the center, leaving a couple of inches around the outside.
6.Crimp the outside edges by hand to form the crostata.
7.Place the unbaked crostata on the pan into the freezer for 10 minutes before baking it.
8. Bake the crostata in the center of the oven preheated to 400-degree F, for 35 minutes, turning the pan halfway thru to ensure an evenly brown crust. Garnish with powdered sugar and enjoy!
What Is a Crostata?
Simply put, a crostata is an Italian rustic type of pie. It is characterized by being a free form construction, meaning that instead of using a pie frame pan, it is formed by hand and cooked on a baking sheet. You can also call it a galette, if you would rather use the French term instead, ( since we have mascarpone in this one, the Italian term seemed best).
The recipe traces all the way back to 1570, when a crostata recipe was written including plums and sour cherry.
Chef Tip
When using pie dough, whether homemade or store bought keeping it as cold as possible results in a flakier crust. I recommend placing the sheet pan with the crostata on it into the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking it.
Substitutions &Variations
- Gluten Free - Using a gluten free pie dough would make the crostata gluten free.
- Berries - this crostata would be great with raspberries, blueberries, really just about any kind of berry you can find.
- Apples or Pears - slice thinly or evenly dice these up and make sure that they cook until the filling is more sticky than wet.
- Fresh Cherries - if you would like to use fresh, pitted cherries, just like the apples, be aware that the moisture content needs to be controlled a bit, they may take a longer cook time.
Storage & Helpful Hints
The finished baked crostata will store in the refrigerator for 2 days. However, you can make the crostata and store it unbaked in the freezer for at least a week before baking and serving it.If using our Tender Pie Dough Recipe, you can save half of the dough for another recipe.
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FAQ
Yes, you can use berries, peaches, and even apples if they are sliced thin and cooked before placing them on the crostata.
Yes, you can. However, the cream cheese will require a little bit more sugar than the Mascarpone cheese.
Jason Miller says
I love cherries!