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Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn
Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.
updated Jul 30, 2023
4th of july
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Learn how to make this stunning fruit and pastry dessert that is easier than pie.
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Everyone makes beautiful galettes. That’s because this rustic summer dessert is as simple as pastry dough wrapped around fresh fruit. Much like making a fruit pie, but with quite a bit less effort, turning summer fruit into a galette will make you feel like a home-cook hero. You’ll still get the same toothsome, flaky crust and tender filling of pie, but without all the fuss and worry over torn dough.
Now, there are a few pie-making rules that will help you make the most gorgeous and scrumptious galette, but don’t worry — we’ll tell you about all those too, so you can make this stone fruit stunner whenever the craving strikes.
Quick Overview
What To Know About Making Galettes
- Galette dough can be made by hand or mixed in a food processor.
- Lumps of butter are fine in making galette dough.
- Fruits should be thinly sliced so the filling bakes at the same time as the crust.
- Galette crust can’t be par baked; jam may be used as a glaze when it comes out of the oven.
What Is a Galette?
A galette is a French pastry similar to a tart or a pie; it’s essentially pastry dough wrapped over a filling made from fruit, sugar, and butter. This free-form pie-like pastry doesn’t require a special pan — just a nice flat surface for baking.
These two components — a pie-like pastry dough and a fruit filling — combined with optimal baking is how you make a great galette. Here’s what we’ll cover.
- How to make galette dough.
- Preparing fruit for galettes.
- Preventing a soggy bottom.
- Baking the galette.
How to Make Galette Dough
Galette dough is very much like pie dough. It starts with the combination of flour, a little sugar, butter, and just enough water to bring things together, and adds some crunch by way of cornmeal.
Galette dough can be made by hand, but it’s easily mixed in a food processor as well. Mix it similarly to how you might mix a pie dough: Combine the dry ingredients first with a few pulses and then cold cubed butter. Don’t worry about processing the butter completely — lumps of butter are welcome in galette dough. Add just enough water so the dough holds when pressed together.
Preparing Fruit for Galettes
Just like pies, galettes can use nearly any fruit and even lean savory with vegetables and cheese. The shorter baking time of a galette requires that the fruit be thinly sliced so the filling bakes at the same time as the crust. Once sliced, the fruit is tossed with a mixture of sugar and flour; the flour helps absorb some moisture from the fruit and thickens the filling.
The filling is also an ideal place to add other flavors. A little lemon zest, warm spices, and even fresh herbs are thoughtful additions to galette filling.
Preventing Soggy Bottoms
Because you can’t par-bake a galette crust to prevent the fruit’s juices from making the crust soggy, many folks brush their galette crust with egg white or make a layer of crushed cookies or cake crumbs, either of which work fine. I prefer to use a little jam thinned with water to coat the crust because it’s flavorful and it can also be used as a glaze when it comes out of the oven. A light-colored jam like peach or apricot works best.
Assembling the Galette
There’s no crust crimping for a galette — instead use a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Roll the galette dough out into a round, roughly 12-inches in diameter — no need for neat edges. Pile the fruit in the center of the dough and spread out into an even layer, leaving a two-inch border.
Now fold the border up over the fruit, making sure to leave a large hole over the fruit so any steam can escape. Before baking, dot the galette with cold butter and brush the crust with an egg wash.
The galette should bake until the crust is a deep golden-brown and the fruit is bubbly and cooked. This usually takes about 30 minutes or so. Transfer the galette, parchment and all, to a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing. Trust us — it will be worth the wait.
How To Make Any Fruit Galette
Learn how to make this stunning fruit and pastry dessert that is easier than pie.
Serves 8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 1/2 cups
all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup
finely ground white cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon
granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon
salt
- 1 stick
(8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup
ice water, divided
For stone fruit filling:
- 1 to 1/2 pounds
stone fruit (plums, nectarines, or peaches), halved, pitted and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1/4 cup
turbinado sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 tablespoon
all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teapoon
freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon
salt
- 1 tablespoon
unsalted butter, cubed
- 1
large egg
- 1 tablespoon
plus 1 teaspoon water, divided
- 1 tablespoon
light-colored jam (such as peach, apple, or mango chutney)
Equipment
Measuring cups and spoons
Food processor
Plastic wrap
Parchment paper
Rolling pin
Baking sheet
Mixing bowl
Ruler
Pastry brush
Instructions
Make the galette dough. Pulse the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt together in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, 7 to 10 pulses. It's okay if there are a few large pieces of butter remaining. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse until dough is crumbly in texture but holds together when squeezed, about 4 pulses. If the mixture is dry, pulse in up to 2 more tablespoons of ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Chill the dough. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Flatten into a disk and wrap completely in the plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Heat the oven: Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 400°F.
Roll the dough. Unwrap the dough and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Cover with a second piece of parchment. Roll the dough into a 12-inch round about 1/8-inch thick. Slide the parchment and the dough onto a baking sheet and remove the top layer of parchment.
Make the fruit filling. Toss the sliced fruit, 1/4 cup turbinado sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl.
Assemble the galette. Pile the fruit filling onto the dough, slightly mounding it in the center and leaving a 2-inch border around the edge. Fold the rim of the dough up and over the edge of the filling, overlapping the dough as you go around and pleating the dough. Distribute the cubes of butter across the top of the fruit. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of the water. Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with more turbinado sugar.
Bake the galette. Bake until the crust is a deep golden-brown and the fruit is cooked, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the parchment with the galette on it to a wire rack and cool completely.
Brush fruit with glaze and serve the galette. Dilute the jam with the 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the fruit with the glaze. Cut the galette into wedges and serve.
Recipe Notes
Make ahead: Dough can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator or frozen for up to 3 months.
Storage: Galette is best eaten the day it is baked. Store leftovers, loosely covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Filed in:
autumn
Baking
children
Dessert
Eggs
french
