Easier Than Pie: Galette with Fresh Fruit & Almond

Hey there everyone!  How are you today?  Are you still loving the fresh-picked local fruit season?  We really are.  The strawberries are starting to be hard to find, but that means other berries like raspberries and blueberries are ready.  And personally I have my eye out for peaches.

So I’ve already posted this photo once as a teaser for a recipe to be posted soon, and that time is now.  In an effort to add to my baking repertoire and take advantage of the fresh fruit season, I ventured into making pastry and baking this scrumptious dessert known as galette, which has the same ingredients as pie but less finicky perfect and more messy rustic.

Not really having any experience to speak of in the pastry department I decided to go with the tried-and-true (which is my usual philosophy).  I headed over to the Pioneer Woman and found this Perfect Pie Crust.  Sounds perfect, right?  The great thing about Ree’s blog is that she shows you a million pictures so you can follow along and make sure you’re good every step of the way.

If you’re already a pro at the pie crust thing then definitely use your own.  But if you’re a beginner like me then I can highly recommend this one.  The instructions were easy to follow and it turned out amazing!
Here’s what you need to make three small galettes (enough for 4-6 servings).

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups Crisco (shortening)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 whole egg
5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

For step-by-incremental-step instructions you should head over to the Pioneer Woman blog post.  But basically you incorporate the ingredients one at a time.  First the flour and shortening with a pastry cutter then the next ingredients with a wooden spoon.  Note:  when she says a step should take 3-4 minutes I literally set my microwave timer for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.  I followed the instructions exactly!

So I followed her instructions right up to putting the flattened dough into the freezer.  I ended up using two of them with fresh strawberries the same day.  The third one I left in the freezer then used it with fresh raspberries a week later.  I left it out on the counter for a couple of hours (which is how long it took me to get around to baking anyway).  It was just as easy to use then and tasted just as perfect.

So now on to the filling part.  I was looking for a way to incorporate a huge bag of almond flour.  I don’t remember why I bought it and it cost a million dollars.  Luckily the awesome Canadian chef Laura Calder had read my mind and has this recipe for galette filling.  She makes it with strawberries, and I’ve made it with raspberries as well, and for sure trying it again with peaches too.  Here’s what you need for the filling (for three galettes).

Filling:

1/2 cup ground almonds (or almond flour) lightly toasted

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for dusting

3 cups cleaned (and cut in pieces if necessary) fruit

Toast the almonds for about 5 minutes in a dry pan, stirring often.  Roll out the pastry to approximately this thickness.

Note to self.  Next time roll it out onto a sheet of parchment paper

so it’s easier to transfer to the baking sheet. 

If you’re trying to be perfect (like if the Queen is coming for dessert, for example) then fix your rolled out blob to be a circle.  You could even use one of those fancy cutters to make a pretty edge.  Or just be lazy rustic like me.  After all, you’ll be cutting away a lot of pastry awesomeness.  Just sayin’.

Mix together the toasted almonds, flour and sugar.  Spread one-third of the mixture onto the centre of each rolled out piece of pastry.  (The mixture will keep in a sealed container if you’re not making all three galettes.)  Leave a couple of inches around the edge. 

Dust the fruit with enough sugar to coat it evenly.  Then pile the fruit onto the almond mixture.  I stirred the fruit and almond together a bit to mix the flavours in.  Yum.  Then fold up all the edges of the pastry perfectly and seal up any spots that may have gotten holes it it...you can just pinch it together with your fingers…so the juices don’t run out.

Then transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake for 20-25 minutes at 400°, or until the pastry is golden and slightly browned at the edges.

Psst...here's the image to pin to Pinterest...

Slice it up and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.  Yum!

Yup, that went down pretty well..

PS:  Share with me the messy and delicious desserts you make with your summer fruit...

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