Plum Galette

 

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Once you learn how to make a galette you have an easy dessert to make with a variety of summer or winter fruits. It works as well with rhubarb, peaches or plums as it does with apples and pears of fall. Leave the sugar out, add a little salt instead and you have a pastry good for a variety of savoury filling as well, from caramelized onion to tomatoes and more.I make the dough in a food processor, a clean and easy way to create a lovely pastry in no time and without much mess, of which I am not a big fan.

My secret for a crisp bottom crust is a layer of ground nuts, sugar and flour that I spread over the center of the pastry before piling on the fruits. It soaks up any extra liquids and keep the bottom crust crisp, in addition to adding flavour to the galette.

Enjoy.

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Ingredients:

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2 cup all purpose flour
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, ice cold, cut into small cubes (I cut it and put in the freezer for a few minutes before using
About 1/3 cup ice water or just as much as needed to bind the pastry.

4 cups prune plums, halved or quartered, or a mixture of red, yellow and prune plumps
3 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup whole almonds or 3 tablespoons ground
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling over galette before baking

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Directions:

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Pastry:

Place flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse a couple of time.

Add the ice cold butter (I place it in the freezer for a few minutes) and pulse until the butter and flour mixture combines into smaller lumps the size of peas more or less but don’t worry too much, just pulse until the flour coats the butter and don’t over process. Stop and open the lid to see what it looks like.

With the processor running begin drizzling in just enough of the ice water until the dough begins to clump together. Stop the processor and pulse it a few times until it begins to form a ball of dough.

Remove to a floured surface and gather the dough into a flat disk, kneading it once or twice just to bring it together but keep it cold.

Wrap it in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate until cold, about an hour or longer (I often make it a day before).

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Plums:

Cut the plums into halves or quarters, or a mixture of both. Place in a bowl and toss with the sugar.

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Bottom mixture:

Combine the nuts with the flour and sugar in a food processor and pulse to grind.

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Assembling:

Remove the pastry from the fridge, lightly flour the counter and begin rolling out the pastry dough into a large circle, doesn’t have to be symmetrical. The pastry dough should be about 1/4″ thick.

Drape the dough over a rolling pin and transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Spoon the nut mixture over the center of the dough, leaving 2″ of clean borders around. Depending on the size of your galette you may not need the entire amount of nut mixture. Store extra in the freezer for future use.

Spoon the plums over the nut mixture piling it higher in the middle.

Begin folding the edges over the plums, as you see in the image, pinching it gently where it folds.

Sprinkle an additional tablespoon of sugar over the edges of the dough and on top of the fruits.

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Baking:

Bake at a preheated 400F oven for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

Transfer gently onto a cooling rack using the parchment and a wide metal spatula.

Serve with ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.

 

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