It appears that I've never met a galette I didn't like. The Fennel, Onion & Mushroom Galette with a Gruyère Crust and the Tomato and Gruyère Cheese Galette both made wonderful main courses for lunch. The Potato and Thyme Galette provided a welcome change to ordinary potatoes when it accompanied our roast chicken; and, the Peach Galette stood alone in our dessert category of yummy sweet galettes until now, when I must add another - Pear Galettes with Spelt Crust. Served with vanilla ice cream, this galette ranks amongst the top five desserts I've ever had (by taste).
Since there are only two of us (and we only had 2 pears), I split the recipe in half which worked out perfectly. The only real challenge I had was trying to seal the folded edges of the pastry over the pears. They say to add the equivalent of half a pear to each galette which seemed to be too much for each pastry triangle. I would probably roll each triangle out a little more before placing them on the lined baking sheet. However, scrutinizing Food52's photo of this dessert reveals that they added the pears standing on their edges - which would make containing them inside the galette much easier as they wouldn't take up as much room. Next time.
Oh there was one other challenge and that was making room in my freezer to accommodate the sheet pan for 25 minutes without being tilted. The good news is we have a small freezer that holds most of our frozen soups, so we were able to clear out a flat space in the refrigerator freezer for the pan.
I just know you'll like the subtle pear flavors complemented by the apricot preserves with a hint of vanilla throughout - all inside a flakey, tasty pastry crust.
Pear Galettes with Spelt Crusts
(Makes 8 small tarts)
For the spelt crust:
6 ounces spelt flour
6 ounces all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
For the pears:
4 medium pears, ripe but still firm
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 egg, for egg wash
2 tablespoons coarse sugar, to finish
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- Place the flours and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to thoroughly mix.
- Cut the butter into ¼-inch cubes. Add the butter to the flour mixture and pulse 3-5 times to combine; butter will be the size of small peas distributed throughout.
- Add the cider vinegar to 8 tablespoons of ice water. With the motor running, add the water slowly through the feed tube. Run until the mixture just starts to come together. (You've added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it without it falling apart.) Dump the dough out onto a large piece of waxed paper, press it together and then split in half. Form each half into a disk and wrap each in wax paper or plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour before using, or overnight.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Just before you are ready to roll out the dough, peel, core, and thinly slice the pears. Toss the pear slices in a large bowl with the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla bean seeds, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough into a 12-inch circle about ⅛-inch thick. Use a knife or pastry wheel to cut the dough into quarters. Transfer the dough to one of the prepared baking sheets. Spread one tablespoon of apricot preserves onto each dough quarter, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Arrange a handful of pear slices over the top in a decorative pattern (standing on their edges). Use about ½ a pear per galette.
- Fold the edges of the dough over the pears and press gently to seal the dough together. PUT THE BAKING SHEET IN THE FREEZER and repeat with the other round of dough. Place that sheet in the freezer too. Freeze the tarts for 25 minutes or until firm.
- While the tarts are chilling, preheat the oven to 425℉ and whisk the egg in a small dish.
- When you are ready to bake, brush the edges of each tart with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the tarts, rotating the pans halfway through until they are deep golden brown and crisp, 30-40 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
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