You may not be able to see the sprinkling of chopped chocolate hiding beneath the cherry filling, but you’ll taste the richness it brings to every bite. This tart was inspired by a tart chef Stefano Secchi of New York City’s Rezdôra ate while working in Piedmont, Italy, a region known for the many varieties of cherries available in the spring and summer. For a distinctly Italian variation, use half a packet of Paneangeli Lievito Pane Degli Angeli (a flavored leavening agent you can buy online) in place of the baking powder and vanilla.
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What you’ll need
9-Inch Tart Pan
$11 At Amazon
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Food Processor
$63 At Amazon
Scale
$26 At Amazon
French Rolling Pin
$21 At Amazon
Silpat Roul' Pat
$88 At Amazon
Pastry Brush
$6 At Amazon
Microplane Grater
$18 At Amazon
Citrus Juicer
$20 $15 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
8 servings
Ingredients
Dough
2
½
1
1
½
11
1
1
½
Filling and assembly
3⅓
3
2
⅓
2
1
Special equipment
Preparation
Dough
Step 1
Pulse flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture is the consistency of wet sand. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and pulse again to combine. The mixture should still look crumbly but hold together when squeezed in your hand. Turn out onto a surface and smash and pat into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.
Do ahead: Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
Filling and assembly
Step 2
Cook cherries, lemon juice, cornstarch, salt, and ⅓ cup (67 g) sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cherries have burst but still have some body and juices have thickened, 6–8 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes.
Step 3
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Roll out dough to about ¼" thick. Transfer to tart pan; lift up dough, allowing it to slump into corners, then press lightly into pan. Trim excess so dough is flush with rim. Set extra dough aside.
Step 4
Scatter chocolate across crust, then top with filling. Reroll reserved dough; cut into strips or cut out into other shapes. Use strips to make a lattice top or decorate with shapes as desired. Brush dough with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, 20–25 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes to let filling set.
Do ahead: Filling can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Crostata can be baked 4 days ahead; let cool completely. Store covered at room temperature.
How would you rate Cherry and Dark Chocolate Crostata?
Leave a Review
Reviews (11)
Back to TopI love this recipe, but with some tweaks! I made it as is the first time and am not a fan of the lemon and chocolate pairing. The second time I made it I ditched the zest in the crust and substituted the lemon juice in the filling for vanilla whiskey and it is MUCH improved. Also, I don’t have a tart pan but this worked really well in a pie dish.
Angela
Iron Mountain, MI
4/19/2024
This is not really a crostata as I know crostata. A crostata is not a formed crust. I might try my go to crostata crust with this filling. <a href="https://giadzy.com/blogs/recipes/fool-proof-crostata-dough" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer ugc">https://giadzy.com/blogs/recipes/fool-proof-crostata-dough</a>
emilie
NJ
1/25/2024
Not bad, not great. Saw this in the print mag and wanted to try something new. I was wary of the reviews here and made a few tweaks but nothing major. Crust is definitely more of a shortbread. The dough was fine for me though I would definitely use a floured surface next time (I rolled between two parchment paper sheets and it was too buttery to come off them easily). A lattice would've been impossible - I did shapes! Looks don't really matter for me as long as it tastes good. But the filling... I'm not sure what I expected. It's tasty, but I don't think it hits the mark. I didn't use much lemon juice at all, just a squeeze. I added more sugar per one of the reviews, and even half a teaspoon of almond extract - not enough to taste although I do think it lightened the tartness a bit. The chocolate seems random, which is a bummer because I thought it'd be an awesome pairing. Anyway, not sure what's missing but it's an "almost but not quite" recipe for me!
Taylor
8/7/2023
This recipe was disappointing. Perhaps the problem was that I used frozen cherries, but we thought the filling was too tart/sour. I liked the zest in the crust, but would cut back on the lemonI juice and maybe increase the sugar. A 9” tart pan, would have been better, as I used a 10” and didn’t have enough left for a proper lattice top.
Anonymous
Philadelphia, PA
12/27/2022
I second the review that the dough is a little wonky. First, I thought it was a lot of butter (normally I would only use a stick for a pate sucree crust like this, but went with the recipe). I let it chill in the fridge for a few hours and it was unmanageable once I took it out, and had a strange grainy/slimy film on it. I'd recommend making the crust, pressing into the tart pan, chilling that entire thing, and then continuing on with the recipe. The addition of the chocolate with the cherry was tasty, but this wasn't an amazing dessert IMO.
Diane
Michigan
7/16/2022
So, I think this recipe has some issues. The crust is delicious, but it is super fragile and should be pressed in rather than rolled out like pie dough. I thought maybe it was the 00 flour and was hoping to find some insight in the comments. However, after seeing the comment about GF flour, I feel pretty certain it is the recipe-- it's more like pate sucre (pressed) than pie dough (rolled). The filling is delicious, the crust is delicious, but I didn't love the lemon zest with the cherries? It was still good, and I would use the crust recipe without the zest with this filling or use different jam.
ndr
nyc
6/10/2022
I successfully made this gluten-free (King Arthur Measure-for-Measure) and dairy-free (Miyoko’s) and it was delicious! I was previously unfamiliar with crostata and found it to be more forgiving to gluten-free flours than a pie crust because of its cakiness. I ended up punching out circles for the top instead of attempting the lattice due to the fragility of the gluten-free dough. The cherries and chocolate were very yummy. Will make again!
Amanda
4/27/2022