Apple Pear Galette
In need of a fall dessert or breakfast?
I know that’s a random question, but when it comes to living beautifully, one really can’t beat a two-fer. You know, two things for the price of one? That’s exactly what an Apple Pear Galette is: a delicious desert that can be served alone or alá mode, or as a breakfast pastry that pairs beautifully with a hot cup of coffee. Make one before guests arrive, Bible study, or for a new neighbor.
If you’ve read the hit new novel The France Dance (shameless plug), you will have read the word galette before. It’s basically a flat, round cake of pastry, and in my novel, Noëlle orders mini apricot galettes from Chef Robin. I decided to put a fall twist on this delicious confection and swap the apricots for apples and pears. Thoughts? Do you have a preference?
I’ve been making galettes for some years now and have always used Ina Garten’s recipe for pastry dough. It’s foolproof. My favorite galette to make in the summer is a peach/cherry galette, and this fall we’re trying fall fruits. The pastry dough can stay the same, just switch out the fruit.
Apple Pear Galette
ingredients:
for the pastry (recipe from Ina Garten via The Food Network)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 TBS sugar
12 TBS (1.5 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water
1 egg combined with 1 TBS water for eggwash
raw sugar for topping
for the filling
3-4 small Honeycrisp apples, sliced into very thin wedges
1 Bosch pear chopped into 3/4” cubes
3 TBS brown sugar mixed with 4 TBS butter, melted
directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
For the pastry, place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Line a wide sheet pan with parchment paper. Flour the paper. Roll the dough into a rustic round disk, approximately 1/2” thick. Make sure you roll the dough on the parchment paper or it could be difficult to transfer without sticking. Dump chopped pears in the very center, then fan apple sliced around the pears. (see photo)
4. Pour melted butter and brown sugar over the fruit.
5. Carefully fold a side of the pastry over the edge of the apples. Repeat until all the sides are folded over the fruit. When finished, it will make a crude-shaped pentagon. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look “perfect.” This is supposed to be rustic.
6. Brush egg wash over pastry dough only. Do not brush over fruit or you will get scambled fruit eggs. 🤪 Sprinkle raw sugar over top of the pastry dough coated in eggwash.
7. Bake for 22-25 minutes until pastry is golden and fruit is bubbling.
