Galettes always look so fancy and beautiful, so I felt very intimidated to try make one on my own. You have probably seen a galette before – they’re more free-form than a fruit tart, with a simple, flat butter crust. They are very popular in France, both in their savory and sweet forms. With the help of my roommate (whose mother is a galette afficianado), I decided to rise to the challenge, inspired to make a sweet galette by the incredible peaches we’ve had from Twin Girls Farm in the recent weeks.
Peaches from MCM!
You’ll need
- 2 – 3 peaches
- 1 ¼ cup flour
- 1 tbs sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter
- 3 TBs ice water
Cutting Peaches
Cut up the peaches in thin slices. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Butter Chunks
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in the food processer until blended. Keep the butter cold for as long as possible (you can even put it in the freezer), and then cut it into sugar cube-sized chunks. Add the butter to the food processor and mix it in with the dry ingredients.
Blended Dough
Now, this is the trickiest part (but don’t worry, it’s not tricky enough to dissuade you from this galette adventure!). Begin pulsing the food processor, and slowly adding the ice water a little bit at a time, stopping after each pulse to note the consistency of your dough. You should continue this process until the dough has the appearance of corn meal. Another way of telling that it is ready is that the dough should not stick to your fingers when touched. You may even have to add more than 3 tablespoons of water.
Almost There!
Once you have achieved cornmeal consistency, take the dough out of the food processor and put it onto a floured surface. Note: It may seem difficult when you’re doing this for the first time, but try to handle the dough as little and as quickly as possible. Form a dough ball and grab your rolling pin. Start in the middle each time and spread each side of the dough out as much as you can, creating as even a circle of dough as possible (in terms of shape and thickness). Move your dough, with a large spatula, onto a pre-floured baking sheet. Cut off any jagged dough edges, and place your peaches (or any other fruit you wish) inside.
Folding the Dough
Starting in one corner, fold the dough up and over the peaches. Don’t be shy! Tuck those corners in over each other, moving your way around the peachy goodness inside. Now pop that galette in the oven for 25 minutes!
Delicious Galette!
When your galette emerges, it will smell AMAZING, and you will impress your friends with your francophilic mastery. Don’t worry if it looks amateurish, you are awesome for trying! Add cream, or ice cream, or just eat it plain. It is a lovely dessert that helps us to enjoy the fruits of early summer. Bon appetit!
