The galette has an excellent effort-reward ratio. The fancy French name aside, they’re incredibly easy to make and look reasonably impressive if executed well.
These quantities make a galette that serves four generously. It’s easy to double for a bigger group. Beyond that it will likely be too big for a domestic oven.
For the base
Ingredients
- 125 g all-purpose flour
- 10 g sugar
- Pinch salt
- 50 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
- 35 g chilled water
Method
Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl, and whisk them together to make a homogeneous mixture.
Either gently rub the butter into the dry ingredients with clean hands, or combine the dry ingredients with the cubes of butter in a food processor and pulse. The mixture should be sandy, but still have unevenly-sized pieces of butter.
Then add the water and either gently knead or pulse in the food processor until a cohesive dough has formed. Cover the dough tightly in plastic film and transfer it to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. The dough can also be frozen at this stage for longer term storage.
Peach galette
Ingredients
- 3 white peaches, peeled, cut in thick slices
- 30 g sugar
- Pinch salt
- 20 g corn flour
- Apricot preserves, diluted with water (optional)
Method
Preheat an oven to 220 °C (425 °F).
In a small bowl, toss together the peaches with the sugar, salt, and corn flour.
On a minimally-floured surface, roll out the chilled pasty to a thickness of about 5 mm, or roughly a 30 cm (1 foot) round. Try to work quickly so that the butter does not soften too much. Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment or a Silpat.
Arrange the peaches in the center, leaving a roughly 5 cm (2") border. Then fold the dough over the fruit, pleating, covering the peaches with 1-2 cm of dough around the whole pastry.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Optionally, brush the top of the pastry with the diluted apricot preserves. Let the tart cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.