A Seasonal Fall Galette – Open Faced Tart
During our extensive interview with Dorie, that should not be missed, I asked her what recipe would be good for beginners. She did not hesitate in recommending this galette. She even mentioned loving the way the crust has an imperfect look in the image. As she stresses in our chat, her baking is about “deliciousness”. This rustic open faced tart is about flavor and texture and is meant to be a joy and a breeze to put together. Try it; you’ll see. Her Galette Dough, which we offer as a basic recipe, is a great all-purpose dough that she loves for pies as well. Don’t miss this one and also check out her recipe for Cannelés for those of you who might want more of a challenge; both recipes are from her book, Baking Chez Moi (full review here). You might also be interested in reading our interview with award-winning photographer Alan Richardson. He has collaborated with Dorie before and you might know his work from Hello, Cupcake!, What’s New Cupcake, The Breath of a Wok and others.
Excerpted from Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere
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I came home from the Friday market on the Boulevard Raspail in Paris, emptied my basket, looked at the purple fruit piled on the counter and smiled with pleasure: I’d bought them separately, but seeing them bumping up against one another, I realized that they were meant to be together. There were Italian plums, the small, dusky, purple plums known in France as quetsches; soft-to-the-squeeze figs from Provence; and aromatic dark purple, almost black Muscat grapes. Knowing that the fruits would become almost honeyed in the oven, I mounded them on a circle of dough and turned them into this galette.
While I’m giving you a recipe, I’d like to think that you’ll use it as a template, changing it to match whatever fruit you find in the market when fall comes. When I made my first purple galette, I broke up some walnuts and tossed them over the fruit, and I also stirred the grated zest of a clementine into the mix. Pears, apples and some plumped dried fruit made guest appearances in later versions. And when I’m in America, I add fresh cranberries.
Serving: Transfer the galette to a serving platter using a cake lifter or a small cookie sheet. If you’d like, dust the crust with confectioners’ sugar. If you haven’t glazed the fruit, you can give it a light dusting of sugar too.
Storing: The galette should be eaten the day it is made; the closer to the time it’s made, the better, since the little seeds in the figs have a tricky way of getting hard faster than you’d think possible.
- 1 recipe Galette Dough, rolled out and chilled
- 20 black grapes, such as Muscat (preferably seedless)
- 10 Italian plums, halved and pitted
- 3 fresh figs, quartered
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- Grated zest of 1 clementine, tangerine or lemon
- 3 plain butter cookies, such as Petit Beurre, homemade or store-bought
- Broken walnuts (optional)
- 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
- Sanding, raw or granulated sugar, for sprinkling
- ¼ cup (80 grams) apple, quince or currant jelly, for glazing (optional)
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Take the rolled-out dough from the refrigerator, remove the top piece of parchment paper and, if the dough isn’t already on a rimmed baking sheet, move it to one. Leave it on the counter while you mix the fruit.
- Put the grapes, plums, figs, brown sugar and zest in a medium bowl and stir to coat the fruit with sugar. Set aside for 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times, so that the sugar dissolves and you have a little liquid in the bowl. Break the cookies into small pieces and crumbs (you can do this with your fingers or, if you’d like, you can “dice” the cookies with a knife—it’s what I do) and sprinkle them over the galette dough, leaving a bare border of about 2 inches all around.
- Give the fruit a last stir and spoon it and whatever liquid has accumulated onto the galette, again leaving the border bare. If you’re using walnuts, strew them over the galette, then scatter over the bits of cold butter. Gently lift the border of dough up and around the filling; as you lift the dough and place it against the filling, it will pleat—it’s meant to. Brush it very lightly with a little water, then sprinkle it with (sanding, raw or granulated) sugar.
- Bake the galette for about 45 minutes, or until the crust is deeply golden brown, the juices are bubbling and a knife poked into any piece of fruit meets no resistance; the fruit is meant to be truly cooked through.
- Meanwhile, if you want to glaze the galette—a nice touch, since the fruit will lose its sheen as it cools—bring the jelly and a splash of water to a boil in a microwave oven (cover the bowl) or in a saucepan on the stove. Brush the hot jelly over the fruit as soon as the galette comes out of the oven.
- Glazed or not, the galette should rest on the baking sheet until it is just warm or reaches room temperature. Dust the crust with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if you’d like.
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