Strawberry Galette, Apple Galette, Peach Galette — Whatever you desire
To be frank about it, making a tart has some pressure related to it. The tart shell can be difficult. The dough is sticky, stiff, separates, or any number of problematic things can happen. The pressure is on every step to produce an attractive showpiece. A fruit galette made with leftover pastry, not so much. It is a rustic tart and pretty much any shape works. You are going to be putting fruit into a free-form unbaked shell.
Relax and have fun with this one. Enjoy the benefits of this approach. There are many:
- dessert pastries always look impressive no matter what
- this can be cooked ahead of time, in fact, can be considered to be even better if served the next day
- you can use whatever fruit you have
Should I make a new crust or use leftover tart dough?
Leftover pastry
If you are going to make tarts, you are going to have some leftovers. Recipes tell you to save the trimmings. Wrap them up, and throw them in the freezer until you need them. Now, what to do with them? An easy answer is a make a using leftover pastry in a fruit galette. A galette is a free-form pastry of any size and pretty much, but not exactly, round. If you have two mounds of leftover pastry, each about a peach size, you can make one 4-serving galette.
New Pastry Crust
If you don’t have the leftover pastry you can start with the perfect sweet pastry dough. Use my 11″ version of the dough. This will make 2 galettes, 4 servings each.
Forming the Galette
Notes of Ingredients
Issue: What are the proportions of fruit and pastry?
You want to make sure you do not have too much fruit. The recipe below calls for a “ball” of dough. I am considering a ball of leftover dough to be about the size of a peach. For each ball, you want about a cup of fruit (approximately 240 ml). Pretty much any fruit and flavorings can work here.
CornStarch
The recipe calls for a tablespoon of cornstarch. This provides a thickening for the fruit filling. Consider upping the amount used if your fruit is very moist.
Notes on Technique
Issue: How much do I roll the pastry out?
You do not want to roll the dough too thin, so the fruit juices stay inside. A quarter of an inch (half a cm) should be fine.
Variations of Fruit Galette
It is quite easy to develop variations of the fruit galette. The only detail to remember is to use about a cup of fruit for each peach-sized ball of dough.
Strawberry Galette
The featured photo is a lovely Strawberry Galette. Great in the summertime. Strawberries have a bit more moisture in them and you might want to increase the amount of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons.
Peach Galette
One measure of a true Southerner is how they want their peaches prepared — simply. They are very aware that a good peach needs little more than a bit of sugar.
Again the peaches have a good deal of moisture, so use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
Pear Galette
A pear galette is the featured recipe below. In this one, we use almonds to add a bit of extra flavor.
Apples could be used in just the same way.
Fruit Gallettes
Please note that this recipe can be used many ways: leftover dough or fresh dough and any kind of fruit you would like.
Ingredients
Pastry Dough: Leftover or New
- 2 mounds of left over tart dough
- 11" Sweet Tart Crust (see note 1)
Fruit Filling (see note 1)
- 2 cups of sliced fruit (strawberries, peaches, apples, pears, etc.)
- 2 tablespoon almond slices (see note 2)
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
If using leftover dough
- Put your two mounds of dough on a floured board.
- Flatten the mounds of dough into discs. Stack one on top of the other on a floured board. Roll out the stack, rolling in all directions. The intent is to create a relatively round dough, but the beauty of this pastry is the rustic form is appealing and, of course, easy. Stop when the dough is about ¼ inch thick.
- Transfer the dough to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
If using a new 11" sweet pastry dough
- Divide your dough into two. Place on a floured board.
- Roll out each dough, rolling in all directions. The intent is to create a relatively round dough, but the beauty of this pastry is the rustic form is appealing and, of course, easy. Stop when the dough is about ¼ inch thick.
- Transfer the dough to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Fruit Filling
- Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl. Gently mix until all ingredients, and especially the cornstarch, are evenly distributed.
- Mound the ingredients in the middle of the dough, bring the edges up around the ingredients, and tuck the edges to stay in place. The middle should be open showing the fruit.
- Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes checking to make sure it is not overcooking. (this is free form, so it is not exact.)
- Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, but it might actually be better at room temperature.
- Serve with crème fraîche, ice cream, or a fruit sauce.
Notes
Note 1:
If using the 11" dough recognize this makes 2 galettes. Therefore double your filling ingredients.
Note 2:
The almonds are suggested for the pears. If you are using some other fruit, leave out the almonds or replace with some other accent that matches your fruit.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 487Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 293mgCarbohydrates: 67gFiber: 5gSugar: 28gProtein: 4g
