A galette is a flat round French pastry cake or pancake. It is almost like a rustic French open-faced pie. Galettes can be made savory or sweet. It's a versatile pastry that is simple and forgiving to make. You can fill it with various different fruits, cheeses, vegetables, and more. Galettes can be made with almost all fruits, so the combinations are endless. The great thing about them is that you don't need to make sure that it looks perfect. Imperfections add to its rustic look. As long as it tastes great, the appearance doesn't matter as much. Galettes are best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of homemade whipped cream.
Galettes are my go to dessert when my family has another family over for dinner. They're the perfect size for a group of 8 or so. Plus an added bonus is that everyone is always impressed when you tell them you made a galette since it sounds fancier than it is.
When making a fruit galette, you want to think to yourself, "what flavors go well with the fruit I'm using?" For example, if you're making a blueberry galette, consider grating a little fresh ginger in to give it a kick. For an apple galette, add in some cinnamon in. You have to experiment with the flavors and see which combinations you like best.
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 10 minutes (plus chilling)
SERVINGS: 8
INGREDIENTS:
1 all butter pie crust recipe
4 cups fruit of your choice (about 2 pounds)
6-9 tablespoons of sugar (depending on how sweet your fruits are)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice (depending on how lemon-y you want it)
1 tablespoon + a couple pinches cornstarch
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon melted butter or heavy cream
Raw sugar (optional for topping)
Flour for dusting
RECIPE:
If you are using larger fruits like peaches or apples, cut them into small slices.
Mix the fruits, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and cornstarch in a bowl and put it aside.
Flour a work surface and roll out the pie crust into a 12 inch circle.
Transfer the dough onto a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle a little cornstarch on top of the rolled out dough.
Add a third of the fruit mixture, then sprinkle some cornstarch. Make sure to leave a 2 inch dough border around the fruit. Then add another third of the fruit and sprinkle some more cornstarch. Add the rest but don't sprinkle more cornstarch or the top will be white.
It will be a large pile of fruit, but still make sure to leave a 2 inch border around it. Fold border over the edge of the fruit. If there are any rips, patch them up with dough from the top.
Chill in the freezer and preheat your oven to 400° F.
Then remove the galette from the freezer and brush the melted butter or heavy cream all over the galette's crust. Sprinkle raw sugar on the crust and bake for 40 minutes at 400° F. Make sure to rotate it half way so it browns evenly.
Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
NOTES:
I recommend making the fruit mixture 10 minutes before you roll your dough out so they can let out some of their juices and water. When add the fruit on top of the crust, make sure you leave out any juices that came out of the fruit to ensure that your galette doesn't leak.