I think the uneven edges make it beautiful.
Rustic Galette with Fruit
Tips: Tips: You can make this galette with a lot of different types of fruit. Apple, pear and fig, or a combination, are my favorites. Frozen fruit or berries are ok to use but be sure to let it thaw and drain well before using.
When I am making a butter pastry dough I measure the amount of refrigerator cold butter needed and then start by cutting it into small squares. Think roughly the size of a dice. I put all of these small squares into a bowl and chill it in the freezer for about an hour. You can also pre-measure your dry ingredients and put them in the freezer in a separate bowl. This way you start with a cold bowl, cold butter and cold dry ingredients. You can also prepare your cold water by putting ½ cup of water in a bowl and adding a couple of ice cubes. Put this in the refrigerator so that it’s ready when you are. All of this makes the process easier and makes for a happy pastry.
If you have not worked with a butter pastry before don’t worry, it’s not as scary as they make it sound. Follow my tips above and be patient. Using cold ingredients, as described above, gives you a bit more time to work the butter and dry ingredients into the right consistency.
Pre-heat your oven to 390 degrees F ( 200 degrees C)
Toast the nuts in the oven for about 5-15 minutes, giving them a shake or stir every couple minutes. Once they start to release their nutty odor you know it has been long enough. Set a timer. I have burned more than one batch of nuts by not setting a timer.
Make the dough: Place the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the cold butter and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Keep working the butter and flour mix until you have reduced the butter into pieces the size of a dry bean or pea. If the butter sticks between the blades of the pastry cutter just pull them out and keep going. Once you have this gravely type mixture, set the pastry cutter aside. Now you are going to use your hands. With one hand on the bowl, use the other hand and put it down inside the mixture. Take handfuls and just rub it gently and quickly with your fingers and palm. Take another handful and do the same. Do this maybe 10 times or so. Think of it like taking a handful of snow and kind of squeezing it into a little snowball. The dough won’t really hold together but the hand motion is kind of the same. This helps to create thin sheets of butter which in turn helps you achieve thin flaky layers. Happy pastry.
Get your bowl of ice water ready and start by adding a couple of tablespoons of water. I prefer to use a fork to start gently pressing the water and dough together. Keep adding a tablespoon at a time and each time pressing it together with the fork. Keep doing this until it looks like all of the dry ingredients have had some water and it sticks together when pressed with the fork or between your hands. You will probably not need all of the water. When it is ready, it will not all be stuck together like a cookie dough. It will still be quite loose.
Spread some flour on your work surface and dump out your dough. Working quickly with your hands, start pressing the dough together to form a dough disc. The warmth from your hands will start to help sort of “melt” things together. Keep pressing things together to form a disc and use your hands to smooth out cracks and rough edges. Wrap the disc in plastic and put it in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes.
Make the nut filling: Chop the toasted nuts with a knife on a cutting board or in a food processor. Mix the chopped nuts, butter, sugar and flour together to make a paste. Set this aside.
Roll out the dough: Prepare a parchment lined baking sheet.
Remove your dough from the refrigerator and plastic wrap and place it on a well floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, begin gently rolling the dough stretching it in all directions trying your best to keep it round. As you begin to make progress you should pick up the dough, re-flour your surface and flip the dough. Continue rolling. Pick up, re-flour and flip again. If you don’t do this step it is highly likely that your dough will be stuck to your work surface. Be sure to pick up, re-flour and flip as your dough starts to stretch. Continue rolling and stretching the dough until it is about ¼ inch thick (6 mm). Sprinkle a light dusting of flour over the top of the dough and fold the dough in half so that you can pick it up. Lift it up and place it on your parchment lined baking sheet. Have your baking sheet as close to the dough as possible to make this transfer easier. The dough will probably hang over the edges in several places. Don’t worry, you will fold these edges up later.
Gently spread the nut paste mixture over the dough. Leave approximately 2 inches (5 cm) of dough edge without filling. Arrange your fruit over the nut filling. You can arrange them in any way you want but concentric circles work very well. If you are using different types of fruit then try alternating fruit in the circles. Fill the fruit out to the same edge as the nut filling.
Mix the honey, orange zest and vanilla. If your honey is too thick or creamy you can heat it gently in a water bath or in the microwave. Drizzle the honey mixture over the filling.
Fold the edges of the pastry dough over the top of the fruit. The edges are likely uneven and I think this creates a beautiful rustic look. If you prefer a more perfect presentation you can trim your pastry dough so that edges are all even. Beat an egg and ½ tsp of water with a fork. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the egg wash over the folded edges of the galette. Sprinkle the raw sugar over the egg wash.
Bake for 50-60 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.