Sometimes a good recipe comes about because you have a TON of leftover components in your refrigerator, and it forces you to get creative. I don’t think I would have come up with the combination of black sesame and cherry anytime soon had it not been for the fact that I had leftover black sesame shortbread dough and cherry compote just lying around in my refrigerator. But the two do work well together. Black sesame is quite similar to peanut in terms of flavor profile, but in my opinion, nuttier and toastier, while cherries, being a fruit, just work well with that kind of taste – think peanut butter and jelly. This tart is basically that, but with black sesame instead of peanut butter, and cherries as my choice of fruit instead of either grape or strawberry. Originally, the shortbread dough was used for cookie sandwiches, so I could not go that route again. With the compote, I meant to purchase a much smaller amount of cherries for a black forest cake, had a lot leftover, made a compote to preserve them, used about half that compote for said black forest cake, then half of those leftovers for Spumoni ice cream sandwiches, and with about half of the remaining, coupled with the fact I only had maybe 1/4 of my black sesame dough left, I used that for a filling. With the dough itself, since cookies were not really an option, and the idea of a Napoleon might look kind of similar to the Spumoni ice cream sandwiches, I went a third route – tarts. But I have already made cherry tarts in the past, so to differentiate this one from those, I went down the route of a crostata.

Crostata is an Italian fruit pie or tart, usually made by placing the filling into the middle of the dough, and folding the edges around that filling, which creates this sort of rounded shape and an open-faced pie or tart. I have loved making crostata since I first learned how to bake in high school, when I was watching an episode of Chopped All Stars and saw chef Alex Guarnaschelli making one in the dessert round. They are really homey and rustic(my favorite word that I typically reserve as a nicer way of calling something ugly-delicious), but that is a huge charm to making them! Well, that and you don’t have to waste time prepping a pie or tart tin, so these come together a lot faster than either a pie or tart would. In terms of the components, two were already set aside for me, being the compote and the shortbread dough. But I did not want to just leave it at those two. So, I opted to include a black sesame layer as well, tucked between the dough and the compote, and hidden away by the side folds. The layer is made in a very similar fashion to a frangipane or almond cream, being made with almond flour, sugar, butter, and an egg, but also including the black sesame powder to give it a rich, nutty flavor. I also scaled up this recipe to make 4 crostata, since in reality, I only was able to make 1 given how little black sesame dough I had on hand. You can optionally dust the finished tart with some confectioner’s sugar, and serve that with a dollop of creme fraiche or cream, but I found that it was pleasant as-is, so I chose to serve it as such.

Makes 3-4 4-inch crostatas:
For the cherry compote:
4oz pitted cherries
1oz granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp cooking sake*
1 tsp lemon or yuzu juice

In a pot, cook everything together on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are fully softened(think the texture of cereal that had been sitting in milk for a little bit) and any excess liquid has been reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency. Allow the compote to cool down before attempting to use in anything else.

For the shortbread dough:
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp black sesame powder

In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until they reach a silky consistency. Then add to that the egg yolk and vanilla, and stir until those are incorporated as well. Then fold the flour, black sesame powder, and cornstarch into the butter to form your dough. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. I recommend during this time to start your black sesame layer, just so that you can assemble the crostata as soon as you’re ready to roll out this dough!

After resting the shortbread, on a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out four 5-inch rounds, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Return the dough to the refrigerator until time to assemble the crostatas.

For the black sesame layer:
1 tsp miso paste*(can sub with a pinch of salt)
1/4 cup black sesame powder
1/4 cup almond flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg

In a bowl, mix everything together until combined into a thick, paste-like batter.

To assemble:
Divide and spread the black sesame layer onto the centers of each 5-inch dough round, leaving about a 1/2 of dough uncovered by this layer. Gently spoon on top of just the black sesame layer the cherry compote. Fold the portions of the dough that aren’t covered in the black sesame layer around the edges of the cherry compote. Bake the crostata at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes. Allow them to cool before serving.