STONE-FRUIT GALETTE

Galette - sugar-crystal-studded crunchy pastry crust, wrapped around meltingly soft, marzipan-perfumed, sweet-sour, juicy fruit... cake-heaven! And all put together in no time and with little effort. Galette has catapulted itself in record time to the top of our List-of-Favourite-Cakes, pushing even BLUSH APPLE TATIN (recipe to follow) off its high pedestal. Since final discovery last year (am I always last to catch on???) we have had so many and just don't seem to get bored with them. 

Contrary to the French 'Galette des Roi', the 'King Cake', served on Epiphany in France as well as here in Belgium, where every component has a special meaning, this version is very rustic, can be served (with all sorts of excuses to the waist line) all year long, and has one major message: EAT ME!!! It's one of the easiest, fastest cakes to put together, requires no special baking pans, and can be made in any size or shape, or even as small individual galettes, and is therefore also quite suitable as dinner party dessert.

The dough is rolled out and folded quickly with no worries about rough edges or imperfections, actually the more rustic the nicer.

Following pretty much the same basic recipe, I use whatever fruit is in season; although the combination of nectarines and apricots is still my favourite. Depending on their level of ripeness, both fruit can be quite sour or bland, but once baked, they magically transform into a firework of sweetness and flavour. Also, they go extremely well with the almond sugar.

But also plums and peaches are perfect. Or any combination of stone-fruit. I sometimes add a couple of apricot wedges between other stone fruit for additional flavour and sweetness.

But beware, these little round things are extremely addictive... best served slightly warm, just a few minutes out of the oven, you cannot stop eating them... In fact, our first one we almost killed in one go. They are so irresistible with their thin, sugar-crunchy pastry crust and the beautifully contrasting sweet-sour almond-infused juicy fruit... you just have to have another... and maybe just one more tiny piece... well, you have been warned!  :-)

Recipe adapted from: Peach Almond Galette, by Adrianne, A COZY KITCHEN, based on the original recipe from Alice Waters

Serves 6-8:

For the Shortcrust Pastry:
140g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
85g (3 oz) butter, cold and cut into cubes
Approx. 4 Tbsp ice-cold water (add some ice cubes to the water to cool it)

For the Filling: 
40g (¼ cup + 1 Tbsp) ground almonds
60g (¼ cup) white granulated sugar
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp Demerara sugar
Stone-fruit: for example: 3 ripe nectarines in combination with 2-3 apricots, cut in half, stone removed, and then cut into 1-1.5 cm wedges. Or any other stone-fruit. You can add more or less fruit, as you like.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and work it with a pastry-cutter, knife (2 bread knifes held with blades parallel in one hand work quite well also), or your cold fingertips (cool them under cold water beforehand) into the flour until the mixture looks like crumbs, with some larger pea-size pieces.

Add 3 Tbsp water and bring the dough together with a spatula. It should just about come together. If the dough does not stick, add more water but in very small quantities. Do not overwork the dough or touch it too long with your hands to prevent that the butter starts to melt.

Wrap the dough in cling film, flatten it into a small disk and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Mix the almonds with the sugar.

Roll the cooled dough to app. ½ cm thickness. Transfer the dough to the lined baking tray. This is important, as once filled, you will not be able to move the galette easily.

Sprinkle ¾ of the almond-sugar mix on top of the pastry, leaving app. 3-4 cm around the rim uncovered.

Arrange the fruit slices in two neat concentric circles on the pastry (or pile them up a little higher if you like).

Sprinkle the remaining almond mix on top of the fruit. In case your fruit is very sour, add some more sugar on top of the fruit if you like.

Fold the dough borders over the fruit (this can be done easiest by lifting the baking paper together with the dough and folding the dough over.) Pinch the edges together a little to make sure that the boarder is sealed. Brush the border with the melted butter then sprinkle it with the Demerara sugar.

Bake in the lower section of the oven for 45-50 minutes until the crust is brown, the edges caramelised, and the fruit is bubbling in the middle. Remove from the oven and immediately move the galette together with the baking paper to a wire rack to make sure the crust stays nice and crunchy during cooling. Serve slightly warm, on its own, or with ice cream. 

Tip: 
I tend to pile up a lot of fruit on mine, and depending on the type of fruit used this can create a lot of fruit juices during baking. Alice Waters adds flour to the almond-sugar to suck up the liquid. I only ever use almonds and never had an issue. If the galette is quite wet once out of the oven, just leave to cool and set for a little and the juices will sink back into the cake and will be absorbed by the almond powder underneath.

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STONE-FRUIT GALETTE 

Serves 6-8:

For the Shortcrust Pastry:

140g (1 cup) all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

85g (3 oz) butter, cold and cut into cubes

Approx. 4 Tbsp ice-cold water (add some ice cubes to the water to cool it)

For the Filling: 

40g (¼ cup + 1 Tbsp) ground almonds

60g (¼ cup) white granulated sugar

1 Tbsp butter, melted

1 Tbsp Demerara sugar

Stone-fruit: for example: 3 ripe nectarines in combination with 2-3 apricots, cut in half, stone removed, and then cut into 1-1.5 cm wedges. Or any other stone-fruit. You can add more or less fruit, as you like.

1) Crumble the butter with the flour: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and work it with a pastry-cutter, knife (2 bread knifes held with blades parallel in one hand work quite well also), or your cold fingertips (cool them under cold water beforehand) into the flour until the mixture looks like crumbs, with some larger pea-size pieces.

2) Add water and make a dough: Add 3 Tbsp water and bring the dough together with a spatula. It should just about come together. If the dough does not stick, add more water but in very small quantities. Do not overwork the dough or touch it too long with your hands to prevent that the butter starts to melt.

3) Rest the dough: Wrap the dough in cling film, flatten it into a small disk and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.

4) Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. 

5) Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Mix the almonds with the sugar.

6) Roll out the dough: Roll the cooled dough to app. ½ cm thickness. Transfer the dough to the lined baking tray. This is important, as once filled, you will not be able to move the galette easily.

7) Top with almond-sugar mix: Sprinkle ¾ of the almond-sugar mix on top of the pastry, leaving app. 3-4 cm around the rim uncovered.

8) Arrange the fruit on top: Arrange the fruit slices in two neat concentric circles on the pastry (or pile them up a little higher if you like).

9) Sprinkle with remaining almond mix: Sprinkle the remaining almond mix on top of the fruit. In case your fruit is very sour, add some more sugar on top of the fruit if you like.

10) Fold the dough borders over: Fold the dough borders over the fruit (this can be done easiest by lifting the baking paper together with the dough and folding the dough over.) Pinch the edges together a little to make sure that the boarder is sealed. Brush the border with the melted butter then sprinkle it with the Demerara sugar.

11) Bake: Bake in the lower section of the oven for 45-50 minutes until the crust is brown, the edges caramelised, and the fruit is bubbling in the middle. 

12) Cool: Remove from the oven and immediately move the galette together with the baking paper to a wire rack to make sure the crust stays nice and crunchy during cooling. 

13) Serve: Serve slightly warm, on its own, or with ice cream. 

Tip: I tend to pile up a lot of fruit on mine, and depending on the type of fruit used this can create a lot of fruit juices during baking. Alice Waters adds flour to the almond-sugar to suck up the liquid. I only ever use almonds and never had an issue. If the galette is quite wet once out of the oven, just leave to cool and set for a little and the juices will sink back into the cake and will be absorbed by the almond powder underneath.