This apple pie is an incredibly gorgeous dessert, with raspberries, an almond crust with sesame seeds, a lattice top, and a juicy ruby filling. It's a delicious way to use your sweet summer berries, but it also works great with frozen raspberries. You can also use your favorite traditional pie crust for a more classic pie.
Unique and gorgeous fruit pie
This twist on a classic apple pie is worth trying.
I posted this more than a decade ago when, together with a group of bloggers, I made the same recipe and posted our results. This was called a crostata, which can be Italian for lattice pie.
The word crostata can also be used for a galette, a free-form fruit tart in which no pie pan is used. You can also make this pie that way, without lining the dish or making a lattice crust. Much easier!
The crust has sesame seeds and is very interesting, not only in flavor but also in texture. More crumbly than sturdier doughs, it adds an unexpected earthy flavor that beautifully complements the acidity and sweetness of the filling.
Sesame dough
Though I have added this and that to doughs before, this one has sesame seeds, an ingredient I often use but never in this way.
Let me tell you about the crunchiness the seeds generate after the pie is baked! It turned out to be a fantastic idea.
- The dough is much more rustic than regular traditional flaky dough. That means it will break more and you'll need to handle it differently because of that. I find it easier to line the pan in parts, which is no issue, really, since pie dough can be patched up easily.
- Keep it cold until you need to roll it. Then refrigerate the lined pan for 30 minutes, or better yet, freeze it for 15 minutes before baking. It's easier and faster.
Lattice top crust
I recommend you roll it, cut it on a board and take it back to the fridge for a few minutes for it to harden and lift up easily. That way, you'll end up with fewer broken strips. If that happens, they can be patched together. Look at my lattice and see how it is patched up. And then feel like you can't make a more rustic or irregular lattice, lol!
Or omit stripes and go all-in with stars, hearts, braids, and so on. Whatever is your jam.
Food processor pie crust
I made this dough in the food processor from beginning to end, as I do with most doughs. You can make it by hand, in a bowl with a pastry cutter.
It comes together in a few minutes. It needs to be refrigerated before rolling it and fitting it into the pan. This is because it uses all butter and also because the dough needs to relax after the stress of being swirled in the processor.
And it turned out to be slightly crumbly like a peanut butter cookie dough sometimes is.
But no biggie—just patch it up if it breaks while trying to fit it into the pie plate. You won’t have to use pie weights or pre-bake it, so the dough will not shrink. The whole thing is assembled—raw dough and cooked ruby-colored filling—and then chilled before going into the oven.
Apple raspberry filling
Mixing apples and raspberries was a last-minute idea because I didn't want to make an apple pie. I wanted it to be more colorful and add something different, the same way the sesame was already contributing to the crust.
Well, it was a winning combination! The color is fantastic, and the two fruits work wonders together.
The amounts in the recipe can be varied, more of this or less of that. Consider the liquid in them, especially if the raspberries are frozen.
What else can I tell you about this crostata? Oh yes, it tastes as good as it looks. So I hope you feel it looks that way.
Pan variations
- Make individual pies.
- Make a galette in a pie plate. Galette, or free-form pie, means that the dough isn't fitted into a pan. That sounds counterintuitive, but what I mean is to use the pie dish as a container because the dough is crumbly. Don't make a lattice or care about the sides. Simply fold the hanging dough inward over some of the filling. If it leaks, you on a pie plate.
Related recipes you might like:
Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it and if you had issues so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here. It's much appreciated.
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Apple Raspberry Pie (Crostata)
Ingredients
For the dough:
- ¾ cup whole almonds
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- ½ cup white, granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz 1 cup or 225g unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
For the filling:
- 1 pound Granny Smith apples, about 5, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
- ½ pound fresh or frozen raspberries
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest, packed
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
For the dough:
- Lightly toast seeds and almonds, being careful not to burn them. Let them cool. You can use them raw, but toasting develops a great flavor.
- Food processor: put both in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and add 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Process until medium ground.
- Add the rest of the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt and process until well blended.
- Scatter cold, diced butter on top and process until it looks like coarse sand.
- Mix eggs in a bowl with the vanilla and add to the flour mixture.
- Process until it starts to come together, about 10 to 15 seconds. Don’t let it turn into a ball.
- By hand: follow the same process as with the food processor, but mix ingredients in a bowl. Integrate the butter with your hands or a pastry cutter, which you can buy online.
- For both ways: transfer the shaggy mass onto a lightly floured counter.
- Gather into a ball touching the dough as little as possible.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.
To assemble:
- When the filling is cooling, take the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into two uneven pieces (⅔ and ⅓). Keep the smaller piece refrigerated and covered while you roll the other one.
- Roll the large piece to about ¼ of an inch with a lightly floured rolling pin, using additional flour to prevent sticking.
- Transfer it to a 9-inch (24cm) pie plate with a removable bottom. It is best to make it fit in the pan without stretching it, removing excess dough. As this dough is very crumbly, you may need to patch it or do it in parts.
- Add the filling and spread to cover the whole pan.
- Roll the small piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and cut strips with a pizza cutter.
- Make a lattice top crust over the filling, adding strips one way and then the other. Press where the strips meet the bottom dough to adhere.
- Freeze the assembled pie for 10-15 minutes (or refrigerate for 30 minutes if you have no other option).
- Preheat oven to 350ºF/180°C.
- Take the pie from the freezer, sprinkle a few tablespoons of extra sugar on top of the lattice, and bake the pie for about 40 minutes, until golden and the filling is bubbly.
- Let cool completely on wire rack. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you want to.
- Refrigerate leftovers, covered.
For the filling:
- In a large saucepan, put all filling ingredients and cook over low heat until butter melts and fruit begins to release their juices, about 5 minutes. As soon as it bubbles remove from heat.
- If not using immediately, keep refrigerated, covered, for a few days.
Felicia Lim says
Hola Paula!! Loved this post! I posted a comment and it seemed to have got deleted. Anyway, just wanted to tell you that everytime I read your blog, you have me drooling away, not just because of the ingredients and recipes, but also because you take such gorgeous photos! I'd so so love to learn and bake with you in your kitchen one day!! And then have tea too! te mando un beso!!
Felicia Lim says
Paula! Hola!! Everytime I read your posts, I end up drooling, not just for the ingredients and the recipe, but also because of your beautiful photos! I'd sooo love to bake with you one day and learn from you! : ) Te mando un beso!!
wp_vknotes_admin says
Hola Felicia, cuándo quieras cocinamos! aunque estoy por mudarme pronto así que tendríamos que ver dónde...
Lora CakeDuchess says
so, so pretty Paula. I'm a sucker for crostatas. I always make my mother-in-law's dough and it's just the basic flour and butter combo. This recipe is so interesting and I will have to venture over and try it. Your photos are gorgeous!
Monet says
This looks delicious! I love all the seeds in this crust. I'm sure the crunch is just delightful. Thank you for sharing with me!
yummychunklet says
Lovely looking crust and filling!
gfcelebration says
What a beautiful crostata. Fabulous color and stunning photography.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
Love the color of your beautiful pie. The apples in our orchard will be ready for picking soon. I'll definitely have to try this recipe.
Cocoa and Lavender says
Gorgeous, Paula! I have never had apples and raspberries together - and now I am wondering why I never thought of it! The photos are gorgeous - and the dough sounds amazing. While Dorie wanted you to make a fig crostata - I think this one sounds more interesting! ~ David
saucygander says
Your photos are so beautiful, and the crostata looks just as I imagine good crostatas should look like, a little crumbly, golden, with good fruit underneath. I also made the crostata, and was very happy with the sesame and almond combination.
Jamie says
I have so been in the mood to make a berry crostata or galette or something similar before berry season is over. I love lattice tops on pies, they are so pretty and inviting! My husband loves fruit crostatas for breakfast... and then I eat slices throughout the rest of the day. Thanks for the inspiration!
anna @ annamayeveryday says
This looks delicious, quite mouthwatering! I love a fruit tart, nothing better especially with the great fruit at this time of year.
Jeannie Tay says
Oh my! I love the look of the crust, so nutty and scrumptious but I have a feeling I would make a mess getting it into the mould:P You managed to make it so gorgeous!
Guru Uru says
Raspberry? You know my weakness - need to eat this crostata 😀
Cheers
CCU
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
Well, I can't say that I'm noticing how uneven those stripes are. I am noticing how good this looks. Marvelous, Paula!
Winnie says
So beautiful! I may give it a go this weekend 😉
Karen Kerr says
Simply stunning Paula. I love the substitution of apples. (said from another ingredient hoarder).
Pelusa says
Esta deliciosa la crostata, me guardas un poquito o llegue muy tarde??
Marlise says
Beautiful crostata. I like the rustic look. Great job!
vanillasugarblog says
Gorgeous photo!
I plan on doing at least one more peach pie this summer!
Sweet and That's it says
Your pictures are fantastic! All of them! And your crostata is wonderful.
I plan to bake it soon and I probably will replace the figs as well.
Yumm! May I have a piece? Please, pleaseeee
I'll send you over some cobbler 🙂