Plum Galette
From Dictionary.com
Goat Rodeo:
a slang term for something going totally, unbelievably, disastrously wrong, and there’s nothing left to do but to sit back and watch the trainwreck.
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Plum galette came about the way most of my recipes do: by accident. I had a glut of pluots needing using up, so I asked John to eat them.
He asked if I’d make a tart. I did. This is not that tart. This is the tart after that one.
Technically, this isn’t a tart. Tarts are baked in pans. This, being free-form, is a galette.
As I sliced fruit and rolled dough, I wondered whether we’d lose power mid-bake. As the PG&E website was down, there was no way to know. Ideal baking circumstances these weren’t.
Every time I post pluot pictures on Instagram, people ask about them. (the fruit, not the pictures.) Pluots are a hybrid plum/apricot, tasting mostly of plums, which make a fine substitute here.
As for the crumble topping–can two tablespoons merit the term topping? Probably not, but what else can I call it? Seasoning? Whatever the terminology, it comes from Amanda Hesser’s plum tart recipe in A New Way To Dinner, (whch is not new, if anyone remembers Mollie Katzen’s Still Life With Menu). Read Hesser’s recipe closely, and you’ll notice her warning: “it will seem like a lot.”
Miss this warning, and you’ll be left with lots of crumble. Spoon it into a clean, lidded container and save it for an eventuality like this one. Your sloppy reading habits will be redeemed.
A more skilled cook could probably downsize this crumble recipe to two tablespoons. I am not that cook. Trust me, this is useful stuff. You can refrigerate or freeze it. And if PG&E decides to shut off your power without informing you, crumble won’t spoil, even if everything else in your freezer does.
Then again, if you are just too frayed to face crumble making–and who could blame you?–skip it. The galette will be fine. Just scatter a bit more sugar atop the galette and call it good.
If only all of life’s problems were so easily solved.
I spooned a bit of almond extract over the fruit (a “bit” being about a half teaspoon); almond extract is heady stuff; a little goes a long way. The crust got final egg wash, a scatter of sugar, and into the oven it went.
This being a fruit galette, one may breakfast upon it guiltlessly. Seriously, there’s little sugar in here, and plently of fruit, and fruit is healthy.
This isn’t a pie picture. I didn’t like ’em. Besides, we all know what a galette looks like.
Plum or Pluot Galette
The galette crust is Deb Perelman’s All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough recipe, from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.
The crumble is a component of Amanda Hesser’s Plum Tart recipe, from A New Way To Dinner. If I’d read the recipe carefully, I’d have used it all up when I baked her tart. Don’t follow my bad example.
Preparation time: the crust needs an hour to chill. The galette needs 30-40 minutes baking time.
For the crust:
2 1/2 cups/315 grams AP flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon regular or fine sea salt
16 tablespoons/225 grams unsalted butter, ice cold (I put mine in the freezer)
1/2 cup/4 ounces/120ml ice cold water (again, I put it in a Pyrex cup, which goes into the freezer)
For the filling:
3-5 plums or pluots, about 1 pound/464 grams (see notes)
For the crumble topping: (Optional)
3/4 cup/150g sugar
2 tablespoons AP flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
For the egg wash:
1 egg yolk
a splash of water
To scatter over top of galette:
A little sugar (more if you aren’t using crumble; see notes)
About 1/4 teaspoon Almond extract (see notes for variations)
Make the crust:
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook gives instructions for making this dough in a food processor, but my machine would choke, so I make it by hand. You’ll need a big bowl for this. Dump your flour into said bowl. Add salt and sugar. Now get the butter out of the freezer, and cut it into bits with your sharpest knife.
As you work, toss the butter bits into the bowl of flour.
If your butter starts softening, pop it back in the freezer for a few minutes.
Eventually you’ll have a bowl of flour topped with cold butter bits. If this has warmed up, park it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so. If your freezer is too crowded, the fridge is fine.
Now, using your fingers or a pastry blender, work the flour and butter together into pebbly, sandy bits. Add the icewater. Stir with a wooden spoon, spatula, or, my preference, one clean hand. Form a shaggy, dusty dough. It will not cohere entirely. Don’t worry.
Tip this mess onto a clean counter or work surface. Knead lightly. You might worry it won’t come together. It will. Avoid adding flour or water: the butter will pull everything together. Try not to overhandle it.
Once the dough comes together, form it into rough square. Cut this in two, aiming for equally-sized portions. I use a bench scraper for this, but a knife is fine. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, freezing one portion for your next baking adventure. Place the other portion in the fridge, chilling it for at least an hour, or, if you lose power, up to five days (just leave it in there. Nothing will happen to it.)
While to dough chills, if you’re planning to use the optional crumble, make it now:
In a medium bowl, mix the 3/4 cup/150g sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and the salt. Now add 2 tablespoons cold butter, breaking it into bits with your clean fingers, creating a mix of larger and smaller bits. You’ll need 2-3 tablespoons of this for the galette. Put the remainder in a sealed container, label it, and refrigerate or freeze it for your next baking adventure.
Wash and dry your fruit. Peel it, or don’t, Slice into nice shapes, or make a total hash of it. Set aside while you roll the dough.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 400F/205C.
Have a large baking sheet to hand. Cover it with parchment paper.
Scatter flour on your clean worktop. It helps to have some on your rolling pin, too.
Roll the dough into a roughly 12inch/30cm round, or something resembling that–I barely managed an oblong here, and the result was eaten all the same.
Carefully transfer your masterpiece to the parchment-lined tray. Now begin arranging the fruit on it, either in a nice pattern or a disarranged jumble. Do leave about 1 inch/6cm border. I found 4-good sized pluots, weighing 1 pound/464 grams, were good for a thick single layer of fruit slices. I used off-cuts to fill in gaps.
Now fold over the border, pleating and crimping gently so the edges adhere. Don’t worry if the end result looks rough. Look at the photo. It’s not the work of a pastry professional. Nobody noticed. They were too busy eating.
Scatter the crumble over the fruit, if using. Now shake the almond extract over.
Paint the crust with the egg wash, then scatter with sugar. Sanding sugar is nice, if you remember to buy it. I never do.
Bake the galette 30-40 minutes. It’s done when the crust is browned. The fruit will darken slightly; it may bubble a little. If you tap the crust, it will sound hollow.
Cool on a rack.
This galette is good natured; loosely wrapped in foil, it keeps in the fridge for a week or so. It also freezes well for up to three months, provided the power isn’t shut off without warning…though now that I think of it, this galette would survive a power cut. It would go a bit soggy, but unlike frozen steaks or chicken, it won’t go off and require tossing. A comforting thought in unsettling times.
Notes:
It’s hard to give exact amounts here. If you have leftover fruit, eat it.
Obviously, buy the best fruit you can afford. To peel or not? If the fruit is organic, no. If it’s pesticide free, wash it. If it’s conventional, wash it really well or peel it.
You’ll only need two-three tablespoons of the crumble; this recipe makes much more. Save the leftover in a labeled, tightly lidded container. Refrigerate or freeze it, and use it for your next baking adventure. I used it again just last night for muffins.
Don’t like almond extract? Substitute any of the following:
A teaspoon of vanilla, a teaspon of Amaretto, or a teaspoon of Slivovitz (plum liqueur).
If you aren’t using the crumble, taste fruit for sweetness; you may want to add more sugar atop the galette. I make the crumble and scatter about a teaspoon, but prefer a less sweet galette.
I was reading Diana Henry’s latest cookbook, From The Oven To The Table, and she recommended using bits of marzipan on top of crumble in one of the recipes. If you have marzipan, you could add some here, too, instead of the sugar.
