Peach Galette

HI YOU GUYS! Remember me? The one who takes all the pictures of food? I’m still here!!

Please forgive my absence. I’ve been frolicking in the summer sun.

Ok, I’ve been locked away in an office. Happy? Dessert to the rescue.

This is a peach galette.

Galette /gəˈlet/ noun- A rustic pastry filled with fruit and sugary goodness. Rustic /ˈrəstik/ adj- rough around the edges. Just my style.

Husband: “That pie was good.”

Me: “That wasn’t a pie.”

Husband: “Right. The grouton?”

Me: “…”

He’s right, though. The grouton…err, galette, was the perfect combo of sugary dough and sweet fruit. You’ll see in the pictures below that before I could take a picture in proper daylight, we’d eaten half. Consider this a strong endorsement.

Once you’ve rolled out the dough, just slap your fruit mixture in the middle. Please note that I spent 5 minutes carefully arranging the outer layer of peaches before haphazardly dumping in the rest. Whatever, it’s rustic.

Before you bake, be sure to tuck in a little extra sugar and butter for good measure.

Bake, cool, enjoy, and pray a little is left when daylight comes. Bon appetit!

Peach Galette adapted from Simply Recipes

Yields one 12″ pastry

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter, chilled

5-6 tbsp cold water

Filling

2 1/2 sliced peaches, just ripened

3 tbsp plus 1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tbsp plus 1 tbsp dark brown sugar (light would work fine as well)

1 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 egg

1 tsp turbinado sugar

Directions

Mix together flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Slice stick of butter into tablespoon-sized chunks and add to flour mixture. Pulse food processor 8-10 times, or until butter is mostly incorporated and pea-size or less. Add cold water one tablespoon at a time and pulse after each addition. After 5 to 6 tablespoons, you should feel the blade start to struggle against the forming dough.

At this point, stop mixing and turn the mixture (crumbs and all) out onto a hard, floured surface and knead just until soft dough forms. Mold into a disc and wrap in plastic. The dough should chill for at least an hour (up to 12) before being rolled out.

When the dough has chilled, roll it until it’s about a foot in diameter. The dough will be pretty thin, but that’s what you want. Roll the dough onto your rolling pin and gently transfer to a nonstick, ungreased baking sheet.

Peel and slice peaches and place in a medium bowl. Add sugars, flour and vanilla and toss to coat. Arrange peaches in the middle of the dough, leaving a 2″ border all around. Take your extra tablespoon of sugar, granulated sugar and unsalted butter and roughly mix. Dot mixture throughout the top of the peaches.

Complete the galette by folding each section of the dough border over the peaches. When this is done, lightly beat egg and use to wash over the dough. If you want, sprinkle turbinado (or any ol’) sugar on the dough to give a sugary glaze. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes, or until your galette is well browned and bubbly. Enjoy!

Time

20 minutes active, 1.5 hours inactive

Apple Hand Pies

Apple pie and I have always had a special thing. That is to say, I’ve always had a special thing for apple pie. The more I think about it, it’s pretty one-sided. I really like apple pie. I suspect apple pie has never had feelings for me. Ah, unrequited love.

Apple pie was the only pie I would eat as a youngster. Blame it on the cinnamon, I guess. No holiday was complete without it…really…we had apple pie for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

Though, I have a confession. I’ve always liked apple pie for its crust.  I’m allowed to be shallow, right? Sometimes it’s what’s on the outside that counts. Mmm flaky, buttery crust.

 

In the spirit of superficiality, I’ve modified the modern standards of filling-to-crust ratios with these apple hand pies! These pie pockets are just as good as their predecessor, but with an additional portability (and crust!) factor. That means no obligation to take the rest of the apple pie back to college with you after Christmas break. Just me?

Here’s how the guts of the pie break down:

(Forgive the flash in my bat cave kitchen)

Almost there…

Ta-daaa!

The crust from Smitten Kitchen has four simple ingredients and is oh-so-flaky. The apple compote recipe is inspired by Martha and makes a beautiful pie filling that is best served warm. With ice cream. For any occasion!

Apple Hand Pies

Yields 12 mini-pies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

2 sticks cold, unsalted butter

Compote

4 apples (I used Granny Smith)

1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed

1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 tbsp orange juice

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)

1 1/2 tbsp flour

1 egg, beaten

Directions

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Cut pieces of cold butter into flour mixture and mix using pastry blender (or mash it up with a fork) until pea-sized amounts of butter remain. Put 1 cup of water in liquid measuring cup and fill with ice cubes.

Slowly add 1/2 cup of ice cold water as you mix together flour and butter mixture. Add additional water 1 tbsp at a time only until your dough starts sticking together. Once enough water is added, dig in with your hands and fully combine dough. Form into a disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling out.

For the compote, peel, core and slice apples into 1 inch pieces. Place in medium saucepan with sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, OJ and vanilla. If you like, squeeze a little lemon over the apples to help break them down. Simmer covered on medium-low heat for half an hour until apples are brown and soft, stirring occasionally. Once broken down, add flour as a thickening agent to help solidify all the apple and cinnamon juice at the bottom of your pan.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out 4 inch diameter circles with biscuit cutter or water glass. Place bottom circles on greased cookie sheet and brush edges with beaten egg. Place spoonful of compote in the center then cover with another dough cutout (I rolled the tops just a little bigger so they fit easier). Using a fork, press the top and bottom edges together to seal in apple filling. Also put a couple slits in your pie top for ventilation.

Brush pie tops with egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, or until tops are golden in color.

Time

2.5 hours