Peach, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Rustic Galette

Galettes are so pretty and much less labor intensive than a regular pie. We love the rustic look. It’s kinda fun just folding over the crust versus fitting it into a pie pan and making it all look uniform. Just place your filling in the middle of the dough, fold over the edges and bake. When peaches are in season, they are super sweet and easy to use as you don’t even have to peel them. Don’t worry, the fuzziness of the skin goes away as the peach cooks. You can also substitute plums if you wish. If you substitute plums, then add some ginger, its a great combination. Make sure to bake it on parchment paper since there is no pie pan, that will make it easier to transfer the galette to your serving dish. You can even leave the parchment under the galette as it adds to the rustic charm.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Refrigeration Time Crust: 1 hour

Baking Time: 50-60 minutes

Ingredients for the Butter Crust:

2 sticks butter, very cold

2 ½ cups flour, plus some for sprinkling and rolling

1 Tbs cane sugar

3/4 tsp salt

4-6 Tbs very cold water

1 egg yolk, stirred well

Turbinado or Demara sugar for dusting the crust

Ingredients Peach Filling:

5 cups sliced peaches, skin on, sliced about ½ inch thick

½ cup dark brown sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

( I prefer vanilla paste, if it is available)

2 Tbs cornstarch

¾ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

2 Tbs any yellow jelly, peach or apricot work best

pastry brush or any brush to brush crust before and filling afterwards

For Serving:

Vanilla Ice Cream

Directions:

1. Make your pie crust first. Make sure your butter is super cold or your crust will not be as flaky. The small pieces of butter is what will add the flakiness to the pastry.

2. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in your food processor and pulse a few times until combined. Chop the butter into small pieces, add to the flour mixture and pulse again. You want the pulsed mixture to resemble the consistency of small peas. Not too large, not too small. If you do not have a food processor, then you can do this by hand and mix it in with your fingers or a pastry cutter.

3. Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dough is crumbly. You may not need to use it all. The water must be cold so that it does not melt the butter. Again, small pea sized chunks of butter is what gives the crust that flaky consistency

4. Form the dough into a round ball in your hand. Place it on a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. I prefer parchment as you can actually roll it out on the parchment or flip it over onto a floured countertop afterwards. If you intend to roll it out on the parchment, then flour the parchment before you put the pastry ball onto it. Flatten the ball into a wide disc. Wrap the parchment around the pastry disc and refrigerate for at least an hour. The crust can be made up to 2 days in advance or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen.

5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before rolling. Flour the surface if you are turning it out onto a marble board or countertop. Flour your rolling pin, top the dough with a sprinkling of flour and roll out to approximately a 14 inch circle a little less than about ¼ inch thick. It does not have to be uniform. This is the beauty of making a galette.

6. While the dough is softening, slice your peaches, about ½ inch thick each. Leave the skin on. You will not be able to feel the fuzzy skin after it cooks.

7. Toss the peach slices with the lemon juice, brown sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt.

8. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Transfer the rolled out dough to a sheet pan lined with parchment. If you rolled the dough out on parchment, just flip it over to another piece of parchment.

9. Arrange the peach slices over the dough leaving about 2-3 inches on the sides empty to fold over. You can arrange the peaches in a random pattern or any design you wish.

10. Fold the edges of the pastry over the filling.

11. Brush the crust with the egg yolk and sprinkle the turbinado or demara sugar over the crust.

12. Bake for 45-50 minutes. You might have to place a tent of aluminum foil over your galette after about 20 minutes as the crust might brown too fast.

13. Remove from oven. Brush the fruit filling with 1-2 Tbs of prepared, purchased jelly. It might be easier if you melt the jelly in the microwave for 20 seconds before brushing it over the fruit.

14. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.