Maple-Glazed Apple Crostata

I always look forward to baking an apple pie in the fall.  The oven warms the house, and fills it with the smells of cinnamon and nutmeg.  My favorite is a traditional double-crust apple pie, but it's kind of a production.  So when I don't have all day, I turn to open-faced pies like this crostata.  I had made an apple crostata previously with cranberries, but plain ol' apple is usually what I want.  This version is packed with apples.  The recipe calls for just dumping them all onto the dough, but I wanted a fancier look.  Unfortunately, shingling the apples instead of dumping them into one big mound meant not all of them fit, plus they were so packed in that the slices became vertical instead of slanted.  No matter, still delicious.  My aesthetic quibble was actually the crust edges -- I didn't think the crostata needed a 3-inch border like the recipe called for so I went with 2 inches, and you can see it came up short.  But like I said, still delicious.

And it still managed to wow a crowd.  With the leftover apples that didn't fit, I made a halved recipe for the crostata, resulting in this smaller one we ate at home.  I used gala apples, which have great flavor and hold their shape well during baking.  And the bulk bag of organic galas cost the same per pound as the loose galas.  My one disappointment with this recipe was that you don't really taste the maple syrup you brush on the apples at the very end.  I suggest skipping that step, or using more syrup and then telling me how that turned out.

Apple Cranberry Crostata

I put this crostata on my "to-make" list months ago, but I was waiting for the right time.  I always think of October and November as pie-baking time, for those of the apple, cranberry, pumpkin, and sweet potato variety.  Sure, I could have made apple pie in July, but there's something about the aromas of an apple pie warming up the house on a chilly day.  This apple pie is easier than most, since the rustic crostata has no pan and requires only a single crust folded up at the sides.

But maybe that was too free-form for me, because I had this compulsion to also try the tart in a square pan.  I don't know. . . squares and clean rows appeal to me.  It tastes good either way, but I like the sugary crust of the round crostata.  A slice topped with some whipped cream is all the better.  The cranberries lend a tartness you don't get in ordinary apple pie.

Clockwise from top-left: I used the food processor for even slices -- except they weren't so even and I sliced my finger on the blade, so it's the knife next time for me.  I used Granny Smiths and MacIntoshes.  The dough is rolled out into a large circle.  The filling is mounded in the center, and you can dump it all at once or lay out concentric circles.  The square tart is assembled and baked, then topped with apples cut out from dough scraps.  The round crostata has its sides folded up, is brushed with egg wash, dusted with sanding sugar, and ready to go in the oven.