Apple Galette
Nov 15, 2014, Updated Jan 02, 2018
Flaky, buttery Apple Galette. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
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Confession – I am becoming obsessed with French Baking these days. I have always believed that no one talks desserts like the French do. All their desserts are so sophisticated and so delicious. I have always been drawn by the art of french pastry making, it fascinates me a lot. Macarons are gorgeous, so are their tarts and their breads? Ahh breathtaking! Sometimes I feel like running to Paris to learn it all. If only it was that easy, in fact I haven’t even been to Paris once! But one can always dream right?
I had tons of apples at home and I was constantly thinking what to do with them. Should I make pancakes or apple crisp or cupcakes but eventually I decided on Apple Galette, thanks to the french baking obsession!
Considering all my knowledge of french baking comes from books and internet, I am not sure how authentic it is. And so I am sure this recipe of apple galette is not as authentic as it should be but anyway I went ahead and made it and authentic or not it turned out super delicious. Galettes are similar to tarts except that they are rustic in look and are free form while tarts are made in tart pans. I think the fact that they are rustic is probably the best part about them, seriously I had fun rolling the dough because I didn’t have to make it look perfect.
Galette has a flaky buttery crust and so obviously the recipe calls for chilled butter. Here’s what I do, take out the butter from the referigerator and cut it into small cubes. I then place the butter cubes in a bowl, cover with a cling sheet and place in the freezer for 30-45 minutes. When you bake, the fat in the butter evaporates which leads to steam, leading to air pockets resulting in a flaky texture. Ice cold water is used so that fat doesn’t begin to melt until the dough is baked.
I think galettes make great desserts for any holiday party or just about any party. Why? 1) they look sophisticated but in reality are very easy to make 2) they aren’t really sweet compared to cakes, ice creams and cupcakes. It’s like the perfect light dessert to finish off your heavy dinner. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Divine!
I applied some apricot jam over the dough before placing the apples but that’s totally optional. You can put apple slices directly over the dough. Next I’m going to try this with almond cream, bet that would taste amazing!
Have a good weekend you all!
Method
In a bowl whisk together all purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt and lemon zest.
Take 9 tablespoons of chilled/frozen unsalted butter [cut into cubes] and cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter. You can also use your hands or fork to do the same. Also, you can grate the frozen butter and mix in the dough.
Cut the butter till the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
Add ice water, little by little till the mixture starts coming together as a dough.
Transfer dough to a plastic wrap sheet and shape it in a disc form.
Wrap the dough and chill in the refrigerate for 1-2 hours. I chilled mine for an hour.
While the dough chills, peel and core your apples.
Cut apples into slices of 1/8 inch thickness. Add granulated sugar and cinnamon powder and mix. Set aside.
Take out the chilled dough and sprinkle some flour on your working surface. Also sprinkle some flour on top of the dough.
Roll the dough into a 25 cm circle of 1/4 inch thickness. Don’t try to make this perfect and all round, this is supposed to be rustic.
Using the rolling pin transfer the dough onto an un-rimmed baking pan lined with parchment paper.
Apply apricot jam in the center of the dough leaving around 2 inch border.
Arrange apples in concentric circles as seen in the picture.
Arrange apples in a similar way inside, filling up the entire dough.
Now overlap and fold the dough so that it covers the apples. Press the dough where it overlaps.
Take little milk in a bowl and apply the milk with a pastry brush all over the folded dough crust and NOT over the apples.
Sprinkle turbinado (raw) sugar on the folded dough.
Bake at 400 F degrees for 25 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 F degrees and bake for additional 30 minutes.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on top!
* The dough can be made in advance and frozen. That way you can make & eat galette whenever you want to.
* You can use egg wash to brush the dough in the end, I used simple milk.
Apple Galette
Ingredients
Crust
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter chilled, cut into small cubes
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup ice water
- milk to brush the crust
- turbinado sugar to sprinkle [raw sugar]
Filling
- ¼ cup apricot jam
- 3 apples peeled & cored, cut into ⅛ inch thick slices
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together all purpose flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest.
- Take 9 tablespoons of chilled unsalted butter [cut into cubes] and cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter. You can also use your hands or fork to do the same.
- Cut the butter till the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
- Add ice water, little by little till the mixture starts coming together as a dough.
- Transfer dough to a plastic wrap sheet and shape it in a disc form.
- Wrap the dough and chill in the refrigerate for 1-2 hours. I chilled mine for an hour.
- While the dough chills, peel and core your apples.
- Cut apples into slices of 1/8 inch thickness. Add granulated sugar and cinnamon powder and mix. Set aside.
- Take out the chilled dough and sprinkle some flour on your working surface. Also sprinkle some flour on top of the dough.
- Roll the dough into a 25 cm circle of 1/4 inch thickness. Don't try to make this perfect and all round, this is supposed to be rustic.
- Using the rolling pin transfer the dough onto an un-rimmed baking pan lined with parchment paper.
- Apply apricot jam in the center of the dough leaving around 2 inch border.
- Arrange apples in concentric circles starting from out and then going inside and filling the center. [see pictures]
- Now overlap and fold the dough so that it covers the apples. Press the dough where it overlaps.
- Take little milk in a bowl and apply the milk with a pastry brush all over the folded dough crust and NOT over the apples.
- Sprinkle turbinado (raw) sugar on the folded dough.
- Bake at 400 F degrees for 25 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 F degrees and bake for additional 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
