With seasonal fruit, Trader Joe’s pie dough makes for a fine crostata, according to Eater Young Gun Mimi Mendoza
On the ground with the future leaders of the restaurant worldAs pastry chef at Senia, one of Hawaii’s most celebrated modern restaurants, Eater Young Gun Mimi Mendoza uses local fruit to craft beautiful yet unfussy desserts. When she’s entertaining guests at home, she does the same. “My move is always to pick your favorite seasonal fruit and make a dessert that highlights the fruit,” says Mendoza.
When Mendoza still lived stateside, the California native would bake seasonal fruit crostatas or family dinners. Her mom was hooked on the tradition, so when Mendoza moved to Hawaii, she learned to make pie dough herself. But Mendoza’s mom soon tired of the exhaustive process and turned to Trader Joe’s for relief. Now, she buys pie dough at the grocery store whenever she has a hankering for a crostata, a practice Mendoza endorses.
To punch up the dough, Mendoza suggests rolling it out with sugar so that it caramelizes when it bakes. She also brushes the crust with egg wash and sprinkles sugar on top before it goes in the oven. When it’s finished, she adds citrus zest. “It’s not going to be as buttery and good as homemade, but it’s a really good substitute if you dress it up nicely,” she says.
Homemade streusel is another worthy addition to the crostatas. “When I used to bake at home, I always kept raw streusel in my freezer and I would put a little bit of that on top of the crostata before baking,” Mendoza says. “It bakes the same time as the fruit and the crust and it’s a nice texture and adds more flavor — that cinnamon-y, buttery thing that you want.” She notes that instant English custard heated on the stove makes for a creme anglaise-like topping.
The final flourish: dessert wine. “I definitely recommend people drink wine with their dessert, especially if you’re going to have a fruit dessert,” she says. “[At Senia] we often pair fruitier desserts with a Brachetto d’Asti or a Moscato d’Asti. They’re nice and light, not super sweet. I’m a texture person, so I like a little bit of the bubbles and both of those have that.” With seasonal fruit and dessert wine, guests won’t even notice the dough is store-bought.
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