Baking doesn’t have to be fussy—this galette skips the stress and delivers big summer flavour.
This easy and endlessly versatile recipe comes from my friend, food writer Julie Van Rosendaal, adapted lightly from her cookbook Out of the Orchard (TouchWood Editions). It’s the perfect bake for a lazy day, especially if you’re intimidated by pie. You can use whatever stone fruit you have available, and if you have an excess of blackberries, you can use them to fill any gaps and add a lovely sweet-tart flavour.
Makes one 8-to-10-inch galette
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 1 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
- ¼ cup cold water
Filling:
- 3 cups pitted and sliced fresh peaches, nectarines or apricots, or a combination
- 1 cup pitted and halved cherries or sliced plums
- Optional: 1 cup blackberries
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch or all-purpose flour
Assembly:
- Cream, for brushing
- Sugar, preferably demerara, for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the pastry: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until it’s well combined, with lumps of fat the size of a pea. Add the cold water and stir until the dough comes together.
Alternatively, place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Add the butter and continue processing until it’s well combined, with lumps of fat the size of a pea. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the cold water and keep pulsing until the dough comes together.
Whichever process you choose, gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disc about an inch thick, then wrap in plastic wrap and rest for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Toss all the fruit in a large bowl with the lemon juice. In a small bowl, stir the sugar and cornstarch or flour together, then sprinkle over the fruit and toss to coat.
On a lightly dusted countertop, roll the pastry into a 10- to 12-inch circle; it should be about ¼-inch thick. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. (Alternatively, you can roll the pastry right on the parchment paper and use it to transfer the pastry to the baking sheet.)
Mound all the fruit into the middle of the pastry, spreading it out to within an inch or two of the edge.
Fold the edge over wherever it wants to go, enclosing the fruit. Brush the folds with a little cream to help them stay shut, then brush the surface of the pastry with cream and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the crust is golden. Let cool to at least lukewarm before you cut into it. Best served warm, with ice cream or whipped cream.
Image: Kiki Smith/Stocksy
