I’m not one to be intimidated by a recipe. I figure it’s all there in print (or better yet, Grandma’s spidery handwriting), and step by step, it can be done. (Which is not to say I’ve not royally mucked up a recipe in the past because wooooah Nellie, have I ever.) But for me, pie was always sort of the last corner of the baking territory to conquer.
I don’t know why, then, one otherwise unremarkable day two years ago I just HAD to make pie. I had come across some of that wonderful mid-summer rhubarb and knew right then and there that it it belonged in between two yummy layers of doughy goodness, and that I was the woman to get it there. Never mind that I had never made pie before – there was a will and I’d find the way.
Now, I’ve never been one for a flaky pie pastry, so I didn’t have to worry about tracking down any of that lard stuff, but I had to get the dough recipe somewhere…and my good friend Martha came through for me once more. With her pate brisee recipe (you could also use the sweeter pate sucre recipe), I had the beginnings of a beautiful thing. I decided, though, that pie was too standard and also the crust too finicky…and so I discovered the galette.
Wikipedia tells me that a galette is, “…a general term used in French to designate different types of round and flat crusty cakes.”
And I do have to tell you a secret before sharing this recipe…that is, the French would like the rest of the world to think that cooking and baking French dishes is really très difficile, like, waaaay too difficult for you non-French to even come close to thinking of attempting. But…that’s just not true. The galette, my friends, is easy-peasy.
Bake it for someone you love, even if you too have been intimidated by pie, and have them think you are a baking genius!
PEACH AND PLUM GALETTE
This might seem confusing but you need to start your Galette off with another recipe – the dough part. If you like a sweeter dough in a tart, then use the following recipe for Pate Sucree, but if you like your dough to be just dough and hold the sugar, thank you very much ma’am, then go with the Pate Brisee.
I went with the Pate Brisee, and the photos will illustrate the steps – then I’ll list the Sucree recipe afterwards. And here we go.
PATE BRISEE
INGREDIENTS
(Makes enough for 1 galette)
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
8 oz (8 tbsp) chilled unsalted butter
.5 cup ice water
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix flour and salt – you can do it in the bowl of a food processor as you’re going to use it in the next step.
2. Cut up butter into small cubes.
3. Add butter into the flour and salt and, using the metal blade attachment, mix until it resembles coarse meal – about 15 seconds.
4. With machine running, add water in a slow, steady stream and mix until dough just holds together.
6. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, and flatten into a disk; wrap well. Chill at least 1 hour in refrigerator.
PATE SUCRE
INGREDIENTS
(Makes enough for 1 galette)
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
4 tbsp ice water
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
DIRECTIONS
1. In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and process for approximately 10 seconds, or just until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
2. With the machine running, add ice water in a steady stream and add egg yolks until the dough just holds together without being wet or sticky; about 30 seconds. Test the dough – squeeze a small amount together. If it is too crumbly, add a bit of water.
3. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, and flatten into a disk; wrap well. Chill at least 1 hour in refrigerator.
PEACH AND PLUM GALETTE INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp turbinado sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
5 cups fruit – approx. 2 peaches and 2 plums (I used a white and a regular peach, and a red and a black plum) but have extra on hand in case you need more to make 5 cups – sliced 1/4 inch thick or so
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together 1 tbsp flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a large bowl toss together peaches, plums and zest. Sprinkle the flour mixture over fruit and gently toss until evenly coated. Set aside.
2. Sprinkle a lightly floured work surface with 1 tbsp turbinado sugar. Roll out dough to a 12-inch round, about 1/4-inch to 1/8-inch thick…or have a strong baking assistant like your handsome husband do so. Transfer dough to baking sheet that is either non-stick, or you’ve laid down parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat on.
3. Transfer fruit mixture on top of dough, leaving a 2-inch border all the way around. Dot with cut up butter.
4. Fold border over fruit mixture, overlapping and pinching folds together.
5. In a small bowl, beat together egg with 1 tsp water.
6. Brush edges of dough with egg mixture, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
7. Bake until crust is golden and juices are bubbling, about 45 minutes.
8. Cool on wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature. Top it off with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you’d like!
Bon Appétit!
Tamara
