What is a Galette?
Similar to a tart or a pie, a Galette is a pastry dough (usually shortcrust) used to wrap over a sweet or savoury filling. Whilst pies and tarts or more often baked in tin to give a clean and more detailed finish, a Galette is more rustic in appearance and is free-form as it uses only a baking sheet where the pastry is rolled into a circle and simply folded over the filling in the middle.
A guide to shortcrust pastry
Claimed as the easiest pastry to make, it’s important not to complacent when baking shortcrust pastry as it can very easily go wrong if the shortcuts are taken. Follow the below 5 tips on creating the perfect shortcrust and you’ll never make a tough and chewy pie dough again!
- Make sure all ingredients are cold to ensure you don’t have a pastry that’s tough or greasy. Fridge cold butter, cold water and a cool surface such as marble are ideal, and if you can go as far as chilling your flour beforehand, even better.
- Go slow when adding water as too much water can cause the pastry to shrink in the oven and a it toughens up the pastry texture. A recipe will call for a certain amount but you should use your eye as to when enough has been added.
- Never be tempted to add more flour and when rolling the pastry out be careful not to add too much to the surface when rolling out to avoid a dry pastry that falls apart. Equally be mindful not to overwork your dough as this also affects the texture.
- REST. An important step with pastry is to always let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or so. This allows the butter to firm back up and helps prevent any shrinkage when baked.
- Another way to avoid shrinking pastry is to ensure the oven is preheated to the correct temperature before baking.
If you love shortcrust pastry why not also try my Lemon Drizzle Picnic Pop Tarts.
When are Blackberries in season?
Blackberries ripen from July – September making them a really versatile ingredient as they span across two seasons. In the summer they make the perfect topping to fruit filled pavlovas and in the Autumn we can barely contain our excitement as they’re used in the family Sunday crumbles.
Blackberries are some of the most popular fruits to forage during this time and if you’re lucky to live near a bramble bush or woods you’ll have a continuous supply of natures sweets for as long as they decide to stick around. There are very few things that scream summer in the countryside than being knee deep in a bramble clutching a bowl or tupperware full of freshly picked blackberries.
If you are foraging it goes without saying that all produce should be washed throughly before eating, but thats merely a disclaimer as I’m sure there are many people who will admit to eating them as they pick. When you’ve got them home and they’re washed and dried, they will keep well in a tub for 2-3 days at room temperature. They are also best eaten and baked with at room temperature as this is when they’re at their most juicy.
I love baking with the seasons and use the BBC Good Food Seasonal Calendar to make sure I’m using the best seasonal fruit and veg in my bakes all year round.
Blackberry and Plum Frangipane Galette
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 190 g plain flour
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 120 g unsalted butter cold & cubed
- 60 ml ice cold water
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
For the Frangipane
- 50 g unsalted butter softened
- 1 egg large
- 50 g ground almonds
- 50 g caster sugar
For the blackberry filling
- 400 g fresh blackberries
- 4 plums sliced
- 1/2 juice of a lemon
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 egg white
Instructions
For the pastry
- In a large bowl add the flour and cold cubed butter, then using your hands pinch the butter into the flour, combining them together until they resemble breadcrumbs.
- Add the caster sugar and salt, then stir them through until well combined. Add the egg yolk (leave the egg white to one side for later) lemon juice and half the water and bring the mixture together with your hands. Add more water if you need it until you have a soft dough.
- Wrap it up in cling film or paper and leave it in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.
For the Frangipane & Blackberry filling
- Whilst the dough is resting you can preheat your oven to 180°C and make up your frangipane filling
- Add all the frangipane ingredients into a medium bowl and cream them together until well combined and smooth then pop it to one side.
- Meanwhile pour the juice of half a lemon and the 2 tbsp caster sugar over the blackberries and mix them gently.
To assemble
- When the dough has been chilled for 20 minutes bring it out of the fridge and lay it on top of a piece large peice of baking paper that has been lighted dusted with flour.
- Roll out the piece of pastry to a 12 inch circle, dont worry about it being a perfect circle as the beauty of this recipe is that you want the rough edges.
- Spoon out the frangipane filling into the centre of the pastry circle and using the back of the spoon or a palette knife gentle spread it out leaving a 3-4 inch edge.
- Lay out sliced plums around the frangipane and then spoon the blackberries on top ensuring any left over juices from the bowl arent included as this may make the pastry soggy.
- Gently fold over the edges into the centre, overlapping where necessary and making sure the filling is exposed. Then using the egg white you saved earlier, brush it over the pastry followed by a sprinkle of brown sugar and carefully lift the baking paper with the galette onto a flat baking sheet.
- If it's a warm day or your kitchen is hot and your notice the pastry going greasy, pop the galette into the fridge to firm up for a further 20 minutes.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Don't worry if some of the filling leaks as this only adds to the rustic effect.
- Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. You can eat this with a cold vanilla icecream, a clotted cream, custard or just on its own; either way it won't last long.
- This will keep for up to 2 days, kept in the fridge, wrapped or in an air tight container.
