This open-faced pie features an Italian cookie dough crust, almond cream filling and lots of peaches! This peach frangipane crostata is a simple, rustic dessert that celebrates the tasty combination of almond and peaches.
This peach and almond tart is made with our classic pasta frolla (Italian pie dough). It's the same dough we use for our ricotta pie recipe.
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Ingredients
- Peaches - You can use fresh peaches or frozen peaches that have been thawed.
- Almond Flour - Almond flour is usually available in the baking aisle of most grocery stores. Alternatively, you can make your own or purchase a bag of almond flour online.
Ingredient Spotlight: Almond Flour - Almond flour is simply blanched and peeled almonds that have been finely ground. Almond meal, is a similar product, made from ground raw almonds with the skins on. For most recipes, they can be used interchangeably. You can even make your own almond flour or meal with the use of a high speed blender.
Since almonds are high perishable, I recommend storing almonds, almond flour and/or flour meal in the freezer. The freezer will greatly extend the shelf life of nuts and they thaw quickly with a few minutes at room-temperature.
Homemade Crostata Dough (Pasta Frolla)
Pasta frolla is a classic Italian shortcrust pastry. It has a buttery flavor with a tender, cookie-like texture. It's perfect with the peaches! Check out our entire pasta frolla recipe post for more details and serving suggestions.
I like to make this recipe in a food processor because it is quick and easy. If you don't have a food processor, you can make this pastry dough in a bowl with a pastry cutter. Be sure to process the butter into fine, sandy crumbles.
- Start by sifting the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Add to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Add the granulated sugar and cubes of cold butter.
- Pulse 20 - 30 times or until the butter is finely cut throughout the mixture and the mixture has a crumbly sandy texture.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, lemon zest or almond extract. Process on high speed for 15 - 30 seconds or until the egg has hydrated the dough and the crumbly mixture holds together when pressed between your fingers.
- Turn the crumbly dough mixture out onto a clean work surface. Use your hands and a bench scraper to pull the dough together into a cohesive mass. You can knead once or twice but avoid overworking the dough. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking.
Pasta frolla can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days or twice-wrapped in the freezer for 3 - 6 months. Thaw frozen pastry in the refrigerator overnight before using.
What is Frangipane?
Frangipane is an almond-based custard that is popular in French and Italian baking. Frangipane is made similar to a cake batter from sugar, butter, egg, almond flour and a touch of all-purpose wheat flour. It bakes up to have a creamy consistency and adds wonderful, nutty flavor to a variety of baked goods including tarts and almond croissants.
How To Make Frangipane (Almond Cream)
Frangipane can be made in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer or with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- In a medium mixing bowl (or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream butter and powdered sugar together for 2 - 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and almond extract and mix on medium-low speed, scraping the bowl as necessary, until combined.
- Sift the almond flour, all-purpose flour and salt into the batter. Beat on low speed until just combined.
Building & Baking A Perfect Peach Tart
Making a crostata is one of my favorite things to bake. Unlike fussier pies and cakes, a crostata is a humble, rustic dessert where imperfections shine. Don't worry about being too perfect with it.
- Start by washing and slicing your peaches (or use frozen and thawed peach slices). In a mixing bowl, toss the peaches with a touch of sugar, a Tablespoon of all-purpose flour, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Set aside while you prepare your pastry.
- Roll out your chilled pasta frolla until it is a large circle about ¼ inch thick. I recommend rolling the dough directly onto parchment paper, to make it easy to transfer to a sheet tray.
- On a sheet tray, add the frangipane (almond cream) to the center of your rolled pastry dough. Spread it in a thick, even layer.
- Top the frangipane with the peach slices. You can arrange them is spirals if you'd like, but a big pile of peaches looks just as lovely.
- Fold the edges of the pastry dough over the peaches. The dough is soft and forgiving. If it tears, simple patch it back up. You can fold the dough into pleats, as I did or simply scrunch the dough around the edges.
- If the pastry is at all warm, I recommend chilling the crostata in the refrigerator for 15 - 30 minutes before baking. Use a pastry brush to egg wash the edges of the dough. The egg will work as an adhesive that allows the almond slices to stick to the edges.
- Bake the tart for 50 - 55 minutes or until the frangipane puffs up and the pastry is lightly golden and cooked through. Serve slightly warm or transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, as desired.
Serving Suggestions
I love this tart as it is, dusted liberally with powdered sugar. Of course, you can never go wrong with baked peaches a la mode with a scoop of old fashioned vanilla ice cream. A dollop of whipped cream would work just as well.
Saving & Storing
This recipe tastes best within a day or two of baking. Leftover can be stored at room-temperature for 3 - 5 days. I like to keep mine on a platter, covered by an upside-down mixing bowl. It never lasts long.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both a crostata and a galette refer to a rustic open-faced pie. A galette is French and a crostata is Italian.
This recipe leans more towards a crostata because of the use of pasta frolla (a traditional Italian pastry). The origin of frangipane is an unsolved debate between France and Sicily.
Frangipane is a sweet custard with a creamy texture and the flavors of butter and toasted almond.
No. Frangipane is a custard made from butter, sugar, egg and almond flour. It is generally baked into tarts, croissants and other pastries. Marzipan is made from almond flour and sugar and results in a denser almond paste that is generally used as decoration.
Sure! The flavor will be slightly different, however, you can feel free to make this recipe with store-bough pie dough or our American all-butter pie crust recipe.
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Check out our entire collection of Summer recipes for more peach inspiration and ideas for seasonal cooking and baking!
Recipe
Peach Frangipane Crostata
ADJUST SERVINGS
Special Equipment
- Food Processor with Blade Attachment (or pastry cutter)
- Electric Mixer (or Stand Mixer fitted with the paddle attachment)
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
Pasta Frolla (Crostata Crust)
- 1 ½ Cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine kosher salt*
- ¼ Cup granulated sugar
- ½ Cup unsalted butter (1 stick); cold, cubed
- 1 large egg whisked
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg wash made from 1 whisked egg and a splash of water
- 3 Tablespoons almond slices
Frangipane (Almond Cream)
- ¾ Cup almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine kosher salt*
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room-temperature
- ½ Cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon almond extract
Peach Filling
- 3 medium peaches (about 1 pound/ 450 grams); washed and sliced; or frozen and thawed
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch fine kosher salt*
- 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar Optional garnish
Instructions
Pasta Frolla (Crostata Crust)
- Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Add flour mixture and sugar to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Process briefly to combine.1 ½ Cups all-purpose flour + 2 Tablespoons cornstarch + ½ teaspoon baking powder + ½ teaspoon fine kosher salt* + ¼ Cup granulated sugar
- Add cold cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse about 20 - 30 times until the butter is finely integrated and the mixture resembles sand. Add the whisked egg and vanilla extract. Process 15 - 30 seconds until the dough is hydrated and holds together when squeezed.½ Cup unsalted butter + 1 large egg + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and use your hands and a bench scraper to form a cohesive dough. Do not over work. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days before baking.
Frangipane (Almond Cream)
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift almond flour, all-purpose flour and salt together. Set aside.¾ Cup almond flour + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour + 1 teaspoon fine kosher salt*
- In a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer (or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream the butter and powdered sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 2 - 3 minutes.5 Tablespoons unsalted butter + ½ Cup powdered sugar
- Add the egg and almond extract. Mix, scraping the bowl as necessary, until evenly incorporated.1 large egg + 1 Tablespoon almond extract
- Add the almond flour mixture and mix until just combined. Set aside until ready you build the crostata.
Peach Filling
- In medium mixing bowl, combine all Peach Filling ingredients. Toss to combine. Set aside until ready to build the crostata.3 medium peaches + 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour + 1 Tablespoon lemon juice + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1 pinch fine kosher salt*
Building and Baking
- Arrange a rack in the center third of the oven and preheat to 375° Fahrenheit (190° celsius).
- On a large sheet of parchment paper, use a rolling pin to roll out the chilled pasta frolla dough into a large circle, about ¼ inch (6 millimeters) thick. Transfer the circle of dough and parchment paper to a baking sheet.
- Spread the frangipane onto the center or the crostata dough. Add the peach filling on top of the frangipane.
- Use your hands to fold the edges of the crostata dough over the edges of the peach filling. The dough is very forgiving, if it tears, patch it up. If the dough is at all soft, chill the shaped crostata in the refrigerator for 20 - 30 minutes or until firm.
- Use a pastry brush to egg wash the edges of the dough. Use the egg wash as an adhesive to stick a sprinkle of almond slices around the crostata edges.1 egg wash + 3 Tablespoons almond slices
- Bake the crostata for 50 - 55 minutes or until the frangipane has puffed up around the peaches and has a lightly golden coloring. Allow the tart to cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Serve slightly warm or allow to cool completely. Finish with a dusting of powdered sugar, as desired.1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
* A Note About Salt
Unless otherwise noted, all recipes on The Sage Apron are developed using Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. It is a great all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If using table salt, reduce quantities by about half.
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