A Peach Galette is a rustic dessert and is the perfect thing to add to a summer menu, and I love that all the attention is on the peaches!
This is the first time I've made a galette, and I'll tell ya what-
It was SO easy and the end result is nothing short of impressive.
Today I had bought about a dozen peaches and decided I was going to create something delicious. I figured a galette would be the perfect vehicle to showcase this amazing, bursting with goodness- fruit.
The recipe starts by making simple pastry dough. If you're at all intimated, don't be! Yes, pastry dough can be temperamental (getting the right texture, not allowing the dough to get warm, not over-working it), but I have some great tips for you that will ensure success.
Above all things, cold is key. Freeze the butter and stick your mixing bowl in the there too, if it will fit. I like to freeze the butter solid, but if you're short on time it will harden enough in about 30min.
Next, rather than spending a hundred years cutting butter into the flour, grate it! Hands down this is my favorite shortcut of all shortcuts. I remember learning how to make pie crust for the first time and hating the 'cutting' process. My arms and hands were so tired- I didn't have enough energy to finish the pie I was making! Grating butter to form your dough may not be textbook, but I think the dough comes out better since the butter is fine enough to work entirely through, AND it lessens the risk of over working the dough.
After you mix the butter into the flour mixture, slowly add the ice water. This recipe mentioned you can use up to 6 tablespoon of water but you may need less. After adding 1 tablespoon at a time, allow the dough a few seconds to come together and then determine if you need another. I ended up using 5 ½ Tbsp.
As soon as you start to see a dough ball form...
...stop the mixer and do the rest by hand.
Shape it enough to form a nice ball that can be rolled out then STOP. Remember, we don't want to overwork it and more importantly, we don't want our hands to warm it up.
When you finish forming the dough, you should see flecks of butter throughout.
Roll into a large circle shape. Arrange the peaches and fold up the sides. Use egg wash and sprinkle with sugar if you so desire and...
Voila! You have Peach Galette!
Fresh out of peaches? Try using Plums!
Recipe adapted from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com
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Peach Galette
The rustic look of this dessert is the perfect thing to add to a summer menu, and I love that all the attention is on the fruit!
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ c all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c unsalted butter (very cold)
- 4 to 6 tablespoon ice water
Filling:
- ¾ lb ripe peaches (pitted, sliced into ¼-inch to ½-inch slices)
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- A sprinkling of coarse sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
For the Crust:
- Grate the cold butter on a cheese grater and set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand up mixer, add the flour, sugar and salt. Add grated butter and mix until roughly incorporated in the flour.
- Slowly add the ice water; a tablespoon or two at a time, mixing after each addition, until the dough just begins to form. Stop mixing once the dough is formed.
- Turn out the dough onto a clean surface. Use your hands to form into a disc. Work the dough only enough to bring it barely together into a disk.
- Sprinkle with a little flour on all sides, wrap with plastic, and place into the refrigerator to chill for an hour.
- Place the peach slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the flour and sugar, then add vanilla. Toss gently to get everything coated.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg and set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about a 12-inch diameter. Gently lift up the rolled out dough and place it on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Arrange the peach slices in an overlapping pattern in a single layer in the center of the dough, forming about a 7 or 8-inch circle.
- Break apart the 1 tablespoon of butter and scatter across the peaches.
- Fold the outer edges of the dough round over the filling.
- Use a pastry brush to coat the exposed dough with an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet, over a rack, about 15 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
Notes
Recipe from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/peach_galette/
