I love a good crostata. An open-faced tart made from buttery pastry, stuffed with baked fruit is always a good time in my book. Since blueberries are still in season, I figured, why not use those, and pair them with my good friend, yujacha. Yujacha is a Korean citron(or yuzu) marmalade, made with the citrus peels and sugar. That marmalade is typically mixed with hot water to make a delicious citrus tea that is great for the fall and winter! In this case, I actually just took that marmalade, coated fresh blueberries with it, and used that for my crostata filling instead! The end result was actually really good – the pie crust contrasted gorgeously with these tender, juicy blueberries that were accented with the bright, zesty citrus notes. And the best part? The entire crostata was not too sweet! These crostata came together really easily, since you have two components: a shortbread crust, and the filling. Please note that the crust does take ample time to make, since you need to chill the dough, then roll the dough, and since there is a lot of butter, trying to do this recipe on a warm day might suck. Be patient with chilling that shortbread, just so that you have buttery pastry that is easy to work with while you are folding up the edges around the filling. The filling itself, literally just 3 ingredients, and it takes all of a minute, if even that, to put together! All in all, this dessert is fairly simple in terms of components/execution, but the taste is well worth it!

Makes 2 crostata:
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 two 6-inch rounds, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Return the dough to the refrigerator until time to assemble the crostatas.

For the filling:
1 pint fresh blueberries
3oz yujacha
a pinch of salt

Mix everything together in a bowl until the blueberries are coated in the yujacha.

Gently spoon into the center of each pastry round the blueberry filling. Fold the portions of the dough around the edges of the blueberries. Bake the crostata at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Allow them to cool before serving.