How to Galette

Galette: an incredibly simple pastry yet high probability for error….if you’ve never made pastry before. It is actually a simple pastry bake with endless toppings and fillings that can range from sweet to savory. The choice is yours! Through my baking journeys I tend to stick to treats that will most likely turn out regardless of what might go wrong: muffins, cookies, unwrapping a Dove chocolate… things like that. So I convinced myself this was a good idea and here we are two galettes later and still learning the skill of fine pastry.

To make this tricky little treat we first need to start with making the dough base by cutting butter into flour with salt and sugar. Next you can do it the hard way like I did and do this all by hand. Using your hands, you will need to basically play with the butter like play-dough and rub the dough between your fingers to cut it into the dry ingredients. This will take some time and make you literally have butter fingers, but this process produces crumbly dough which will have water added to combine all of the ingredients together. Once the dough is mostly crumbly and comes together, shape it into a rough ball and wrap it in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (ideally an hour, but who am I kidding). If you want to speed up the process of making the pastry dough, I highly recommend using a food processor since it takes about 4-5 pulses to get the desired consistency and doesn’t melt the butter from the heat of your hands. Also by making this twice I learned that vodka can be used in place of water when combining the dough together to avoid extra gluten build up. This keeps the dough light and crumbly.

Now it is time to assemble! Here is where you will appreciate all of the back breaking mise en place you did to get to this stage. Or if you have a super helpful significant other or baking helper this is a great task to outsource while you are prepping the dough. Cut or slice the peaches into thin slices, but make sure they are not too thin so they hold up to the heat of the oven. They should be thick enough to retain texture after baking. Simply rinse and drain the raspberries, which do not need to be cut as they will be placed on the top of the galette.

Next take the dough out of the refrigerator and lightly cover a flat surface with flour or parchment paper. After the second time I made this, I found it was easier to just give in and make a huge mess on the countertop and get that baby full of flour. I did try rolling the first one out on parchment paper which led to me getting frustrated and my husband giving me the eye from across the room. You know the look… the “I told you so, but I’m slowly backing away for safety” look.

Roll the dough out until it is about as thin as a tortilla but thick enough that it can be gently handled without tearing. Then spread raspberry jelly on top of the dough without spreading it all the way to the edge of the dough. Keep about 1-2 inches of the perimeter of the dough free from filling as we will be folding it over later. If you do forget this step and it is spread it all the way out to the edges you will need to stop here and start over. Just kidding… just take a knife and spread it back to the middle; I won’t tell anyone.

Note: I did use a strainer to separate the seeds from the raspberry jam, but this is not necessary! 

Next place the peaches on top of the raspberry jam in any pattern you’d like! This is where we can get really creative and take the time to play around with the pattern. Placing the peaches in a circle is very easy and has a nice final effect. Then fill in any gaps with raspberries to add texture and extra flavor. Once this is done, use the parchment paper to gently fold the outside crust just over the edges of the peaches to create a rough crust. This doesn’t need to be perfect by any means – in fact it gives a very rustic vibe. Keeping the galette on the parchment paper, move it to a baking tray. Bake in a 425ºF oven for 35-40 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Lessons Learned:

• Keep everything COLD
• Use shortcuts to make the dough if you have access to a food processor
• Use vodka in lieu of water to pull the dough together and lessen the build-up of gluten
• Try, try, and try again. Don’t give up if this doesn’t work the first time!

Second attempt sans raspberry jam.

Recipe

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter. Cut into small cubes and freeze for 15-30 minutes
• 3-5 Tbsp ice water, or 2 Tablespoons of chilled plain vodka

Filling:

• 2-3 large peaches. Slice info 1/2-inch slices (or wedges if you like them larger bites)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon butter (optional)
• A sprinkling of coarse sugar for topping (optional, but totally do it)

Method

1. Make the dough by using a food processor or by hand. Using food processor pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Then add the frozen butter and pulse 5-8 times until the butter starts to form small crumbles (about the size of a small pea).
2. Add in the ice water (or vodka) a tablespoon at at time until the dough starts to clump together.
3. Move the dough onto lightly floured surface and bring it together to form a ball. Do not knead the dough! Handle it as little as possible.
4. Wrap this in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes to an hour. (Ideally an hour).
5. In a separate bowl mix together the peaches, flour, sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch.
6. Preheat oven to 425°F
7. Optional step is to prep egg wash to brush on the crust of the galette.
8. Roll out the dough to 12-inch diameter on top of parchment paper. Move this to a baking tray and assemble galette by placing peaches in desired design.
9. Fold the edges of the dough over to cover the peaches. This should be about 1/2 inch of dough.
10. Sprinkle with coarse sugar focusing on the edge dough for extra crunch.
11. Place the galette in the refrigerator for 15 – 20 minutes until it sets and can firm up.
12. Bake at 425°F for 35-40 minutes until the galette is just golden brown. It will be quite soft at this point. Keeping it on the parchment paper, carefully move it to a drying rack so it can set.
13. Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or just as-is!

Did you make any of these variations? Tag me on IG and FB!