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Heavenly Peach Galette
When this blog was in its infancy, one of my first postings titled “Surrogate Baker” reported the story of a dinner invitation from our then new friend Leon Axel who lives across the street and featured a fruit galette that required emergency shuttling back and forth to our oven. We have since gotten together for dinner many times but this week, when we carried this peach galette across the street to Leon’s, I was reminded of the first visit just short of three years ago.
Late in the evening there was an unexpected visit from Leon’s son Nathanial and his lovely girl friend who were returning from a concert nearby on Bleecker Street and hadn’t yet had dinner. So we started all over again with Leon’s fabulous ballontine of duck with cherry ginger chutney, a mixed greens salad from the local farmer’s market with herbs just snipped from his terrace garden, and then the galette.
As this is the height of an exceptionally fine peach season, and the galette turned out to be so special, I want to share this with you immediately. Luckily I had the foresight to take several step by step photos of the process which I think will be helpful and maybe even inspirational!
Perfectly Ripe Peaches
The Sliced Peaches
The Sliced Peaches Draining
The Reduced Syrup
Pouring the Syrup onto the Peaches
Getting out the Heavy Artillery for Rolling
Switching to My Longer Pasta Pin
The Pastry Draped Over the Pan
The Peach Mixture Nestled in the Pastry
The Pastry Draped Over the Peaches
I’ll admit that from beginning to end it took about 5 hours but I think they were 5 hours well spent. In fact, pot luck is really the way to go these days with no one having the time to make a full scale dinner except on very rare occasions. There was enough galette to serve 5 substantial slices plus slightly smaller ones for breakfast. Leon served a lovely and rare berry liqueur from Finland with the tart.
Double Click on the Photo to Enlarge It to See the Flaky Crust
When I was at the checkout counter the next day at Trader Joe’s, the cashier asked me if I smelled lychees. I quickly realized it had to be the peaches. After peeling and slicing 9 peaches, the intoxicating floral aroma had impregnated everything I was wearing. It couldn’t have remained in my hair as I had gone for my usual early morning swim. And what do you suppose I was thinking during that mile of laps? Hurrying home to eat that last piece of peach galette.
Baking Time: 40 to 45 minutes
Perfect Peach Galette
This is my favorite peach pie transformed into a galette. I prefer it to a pie because the balance of fruit to pastry is truly perfection. It works for most fruit but especially well for peaches which, compared to nectarines and apples, are a little softer and don’t hold up as well in a thicker layer. The thin, buttery, flaky, crisp crust encasing the luscious peach slices is truly heavenly.
Serves: 8
INGREDIENTS |
MEASUREMENTS |
WEIGHT |
|
|
volume |
ounces |
grams |
flaky cream cheese pie |
see Note |
22 ounces |
624 grams |
3 lbs. ripe peaches (about |
6 1/2 cups |
40 ounces |
1134 grams |
freshly squeezed |
1 tablespoon |
0.50 ounce |
16 grams |
sugar |
2/3 cup |
4.7 ounces |
133 grams |
salt |
a pinch |
. |
. |
cornstarch |
4 teaspoons |
. |
13.5 grams |
almond extract |
1/2 teaspoon |
. |
. |
butter, unsalted |
2 tablespoons |
1 ounce |
28 grams |
Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle them with the lemon juice. Sprinkle on the sugar and pinch of salt and toss them gently to mix evenly. Allow them to macerate for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the peaches to a colander suspended over a bowl to capture the liquid. The mixture will release at least 1 cup up to 1 1/3 cups of juice.
In a small saucepan (preferably lined with a nonstick surface) over medium high heat, boil down this liquid together with the butter to about 2/3 cup or until syrupy and lightly caramelized. The exact amount will depend on how much juice the peaches release which you will be reducing by about half. Swirl but do not stir it. (Alternatively, spray a 4-cup heatproof measure with nonstick vegetable spray, add the liquid and butter and boil it in the microwave, about 12 to 18 minutes on high—watch carefully as microwaves vary). Transfer the peaches to a bowl, pour the syrup over them, and toss gently. (Do not be concerned if the liquid hardens on contact with the peaches; it will dissolve during baking.) Add the cornstarch and almond extract and toss gently until all traces of it have disappeared.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes until it is soft enough to roll. On a well-floured pastry cloth roll the crust into a 24-inch diameter circle. Fold it in quarters and transfer it to a 14 to 16 inch pizza pan, allowing the border to overlap the pan. Scrape the peach mixture into the pastry and carefully drape the border over the fruit, allowing it to pleat as evenly as possible. It will leave a small area in the center exposed.
Cover the galette loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for one hour before baking to chill. This will maintain flakiness.
Preheat the oven to 400°/200°C. at least 20 minutes before baking time. Set the oven rack at lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it before preheating. Place a large piece of greased foil on top to catch any juices.
For a delightfully crunchy crust, spritz or brush the pastry all over with water and sprinkle with superfine sugar. Set the pan directly on the foil topped baking stone and bake 40-45 minutes the juices bubble thickly in the center opening and the peaches feel tender but not mushy when a cake tester or small sharp knife is inserted. Rotate the pan half way through the baking time. If it starts to over-brown, cover loosely with foil.
Cool the galette on a rack for about 3 hours until warm or room temperature before cutting. Pointers for Success:
- The peaches should be ripe and yield slightly to pressure but firm enough to maintain their texture when baked. If squishy, they lose their character.
- To peel peaches, bring a pot of water to a boil, add the peaches and turn off the heat. Allow them to sit for 1 minute. Drain at once and rinse with cold water or place in a bowl of ice water. If the peaches are ripe, the peels will slip off easily.
- As you slice the peaches, toss them occasionally to coat with sugar mixture.
- Be sure to put a sheet of foil under the pie pan as there is always a little spill over with this much fruit.
- For a truly crisp bottom crust, this juicy galette works well baked directly on the floor of the oven for the first 30 minutes. Then raise it to a rack in the lower part of the oven.
Understanding Concentrating the peach juices before baking keeps the filling juicy and requires only a small amount of starch to bind it.
NOTE: For the pie crust, put favorite flaky & tender pie crust in the search box and increase the recipe by 1 1/2 times. Rolling a crust this large and this thin can be tricky. This is a great dough—strong enough to roll thin but tender when baked. Be sure to roll the crust in a cool area—no higher than 75/24°C and work quickly. Move it on the cloth occasionally to ensure that it isn’t sticking and add more flour if necessary.
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Comments
I've made your pie crust many times now. When I first did it, I weighed the liquid in a seperate container and added it later to the crust--I always found that I needed a bit more. I later switched to weighing the liquid by pouring it the bowl with the crust and didn't need to add more--that little bit that clung to the seperate container made a difference when dealing with the small quantities necessary for pie crust.
I can attest though that it will roll out to that size--even further. I made this missing about 200g of crust unknowingly, and I still made it to 2 feet!
Reply to this Posted by: Matthew | September 9, 2008 5:42 PM #
for a while now i've been replacing all the water in the recipe with heavy cream. i don't know what brand flour you are using but possible it is higher in protein.if it doesn't hold together when rolling try adding a little heavy cream.
if there is a bitter aftertaste it is no doubt due to the baking powder--i only add bp to dough when it is rumford or a calcium based (not aluminum based) product.
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | September 9, 2008 4:36 PM #
Rose & Hector: thank you, i used pastry flour and did measure with a scale very precisely. my scale is JADEVER and weighs in ounces, kilograms etc. i do not see cream, just cream cheese, in the recipe in your bible. are you suggesting adding cream or a bit more cream cheese. additionally, the finally dough baked out very flaky, but had a very slight bitter aftertaste. the pastry dough was about 10 months old, stored in an air tight container and a dark cool storage room. did you use a round slab on which to roll out the dough? i work on a marble type counter, which i cooled down with ice packs before rolling as it is across from big double ovens that were on for another project.
marc
Reply to this Posted by: marc reynolds | September 9, 2008 4:13 PM #
barbara, i love all your ideas! glad you're tailoring this recipe to your taste.
marc, hector's reply is on the mark--pastry cloth works best for this. but if it's not holding together my guess is that you are measuring not weighing and have more flour than i do. you might want to pinch some of the mixture and if it doesn't hold together add a little more cream. better still--use a scale. and i DO use pastry flour!
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | September 9, 2008 9:37 AM #
marc, for some reason, and explained on PBB, Rose's flaky cream cheese crust rolls best on a floured cloth. Plastic works best with cookie crust types.
Reply to this Posted by: hector | September 6, 2008 9:10 PM #
I have been reading all the commenst to the peach gallete and have not seen so much interest in a recipes since the NY Times no knead bread.
I finally made the gallet using your original cream chease dough from the Pie Bible. I had difficuly rolling it out and could not get a large circle. Instead of a cloth base I used heavy weight very wide plastic wrap which I have used succesfully for pie crusts over the years.The dough did not hold together despite high humidity (hurricane).
But the tase! Oh my what wonderful taste.
Marc Reynolds
Reply to this Posted by: marc reynolds | September 6, 2008 7:09 PM #
Hi folks! I also made this recipe recently. I made a half-recipe, actually. That translates to making 3/4 of the recipe for "favorite flaky and tender pie crust," rolling it out a diameter of about 17 inches, filling the center 10 to 11 inches with a half-recipe of the peach filling, and going on from there.
I used the base from a 10-inch round springform pan as my baking pan and baked on a foil-protected baking stone. I took an idea from a different galette recipe and put a very thin layer of raspberry jam underneath the peach filling. It made for a lovely sort of Peach Melba effect.
It was delicious!
My husband and I were surprised to discover that we didn't like this as well as some other galettes because the pie crust was "too thin" for our tastes. We both just LOVE pie crust and Rose's recipe is superb -- we wanted a thicker layer in each bite! Next time, I am thinking of making a full recipe of the crust, rather than 3/4 of the recipe. When I roll it out, I'll make the center part thicker and taper out to very thin at the edges. (I think if the edges are too thick, you'd get a huge pile of folded dough in the center of the galette.) Just a suggestion for those of us who love, love, love pie crust!
On the other hand, we both thought the original amount of dough would be superb with a thinner layer of fruit, or just some really good jam or preserves. How about a thin layer of spiced apple butter topped with very, very thinly sliced apples? Between thin layers of that heavenly crust? Yum!
I'll be making various versions of this recipe again! Thanks for a great recipe, Rose!
Reply to this Posted by: Barbara | September 6, 2008 4:23 PM #
wonderful!!! i'm so pleased--now you have this wonderful dessert in your repertoire and we all learned something about cornstarch and the technique of reducing fruit juices not to mention crisper bottom crusts!
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | September 5, 2008 9:41 AM #
Rose - I made the Peach Galette last night and it's heavenly! I love it! Aren't we lucky to have you around - for the recipes and as a resource when encountering baking problems. We loved it so much that over half of it is gone. Between my husband and I - we had it for dessert last night and breakfast this morning. Yummy.
Thanks again for the great recipe. Will bake it again today (peaches are on sale).
Reply to this Posted by: amy | September 5, 2008 9:34 AM #
Julie - my registration was finally activated. Thanks again for being there.
Reply to this Posted by: amy | September 3, 2008 12:49 AM #
that's not what i wrote. if you try to dissolve the cornstarch in the hot syrup you may overheat the cornstarch and it won't thicken. do try the recipe exactly as it's written and also for added insurance bake it for the first 20 min. or as i indicated earlier until the bottom is nicely browned.
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | September 2, 2008 9:08 PM #
i know i didnt put the pie crust in the bottom of the oven.
OK i see where i goofed.
i reduced the juice/syrup to the 2/3 cup as per the recipe.
because of my fear of soggy crust - i didn't pour all of the 2/3 cup into the fruits as it seemed a lot.
but the key here is i dissolved the cornstarch into the syrup and then poured it into the fruits that were already spread out on the crust.
allright - i'll try again. i bought peaches this morning intending to do another test. this will be trial #3.
thanks/
Reply to this Posted by: amy | September 2, 2008 9:04 PM #
amy, you missed my answer which i posted on your question about adding starter to bread dough. here it is again:
t's impossible to know exactly what you did differently with the galette but it sounds like a combination of too much juice and not enough bottom heat. i don't know if you weighed the peaches or exactly how much water they released and how much you reduced it so you need to follow the instructions very carefully. reduce the juices til very syrupy as in the photo. but you should try baking on the floor of the oven--checking after 20 minutes to make sure the bottom crust doesn't burn and when it's nice and brown raise it to the next shelf.
all i can do is give very specific recipes and photos but i can't be there to know if you are following them to the letter. if you tell me your crust was ruined due to sogginess all i can assuming is that you are deviating from the recipe in some way but i can't know how. try making smaller versions as practice ones and i'm confident you'll work it out to your satisfaction.
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | September 2, 2008 8:40 PM #
Matthew - when you suggested the egg white wash for the crust - does that apply to crust that's filled with fruits and is going back to the oven for further cooking?
Reply to this Posted by: amy | September 2, 2008 8:23 PM #
i don't. it might be in the peach pie in the pastry bible. where did you get the idea i did this for the galette? it's not necessary.
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | September 2, 2008 8:20 PM #
Where in your directions, do you talk about brushing crust with egg whites to prevent a soggy crust?
THIS IS MY FIRST COMMENT EVER. cOULD IT BE YOU JUST DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER?
Reply to this Posted by: Mary Ann Buruchian | September 2, 2008 8:20 PM #
Rose: Thought I'd re-post this as I didn't get any reply.
HELP! I made the peach galette thinking i followed the instructions really well. however, i still ended up with lots of juice thus ending up with a soggy crust.
i macerated the peaches for 45 min., drained the juice and created the syrup.
i didn't use all of the syrup in the recipe, however, afraid that I'd end up with a soggy crust.COULD THIS HAVE CAUSED THE PROBLEM?
i didn't do the egg white wash on this because i was baking the crust with the peaches as per recipe instruction.
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
Reply to this Posted by: amy | September 2, 2008 8:20 PM #
Where in your directions, do you talk about brushing crust with egg whites to prevent a soggy crust?
THIS IS MY FIRST COMMENT EVER. cOULD IT BE YOU JUST DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER?
Reply to this Posted by: Mary Ann Buruchian | September 2, 2008 8:19 PM #
Where in your directions, do you talk about brushing crust with egg whites to prevent a soggy crust?
Reply to this Posted by: Mary Ann Buruchian | September 2, 2008 8:18 PM #
I saw your recipe today on Tasting Spoons blog and had to try it. I followed your directions on the crust and it turned out beautifully. I don't consider myself a pie crust baker, but this was easy and delicious. Thanks. Jan
Reply to this Posted by: jancd | September 2, 2008 2:48 PM #
julie - thank you for coming to the rescue. i was able to get into the register section. supposedly my registration was accepted. however when i try to log in it's saying that my membership account has not been activated yet.
maybe somebody from Rose's office has to do something. i'll try it again on Tuesday and see if it works.
thanks again.
Reply to this Posted by: amy | August 30, 2008 1:19 PM #
Amy,
Try going to the forums section by clicking on "Forums" in the left sidebar. Then I think you'll be able to see the "register" over by the seal. For the forums you need to register, but not for the main blog.
Hope that helps,
Julie
Reply to this Posted by: Julie | August 30, 2008 7:53 AM #
Rose - I must have registered some time ago and didnt remember. The word register is nowhere under the gold medal seal. The system gave me a user name and a new password. However, when I entered my user name and new password - this is what showed up:
The following errors were encountered
* Your membership account has not been activated yet.
Reply to this Posted by: amy | August 28, 2008 10:27 PM #
Oh sure... click on the word register just under the gold medal seal.
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | August 28, 2008 8:44 PM #
Thanks, Patrincia. I clicked on the link and it's asking me to register and is indicating a register button on the upper right (Rose's intro). But, I cant find it anywhere. Can you guide me through?
Reply to this Posted by: amy | August 28, 2008 7:30 PM #
Amy - you can post your photos on the forum.
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewforum/7/
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | August 28, 2008 3:44 PM #
HELP! I made the peach galette thinking i followed the instructions really well. however, i still ended up with lots of juice thus ending up with a soggy crust.
i macerated the peaches for 45 min., drained the juice and created the syrup.
i didn't use all of the syrup however, afraid that I'd end up with a soggy crust.
i didn't do the egg white wash on this because i was baking the crust with the peaches as per recipe instruction.
what am i doing wrong?
the galette came out beautiful and i'd like to post it but don't know how. i'm so sad to have ruined a beautiful and tasty pie crust.
Reply to this Posted by: amy | August 28, 2008 3:27 PM #
yikes! apologies but maybe you created a new idea here! thank goodness you will be proofing these things in the book!!!
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | August 26, 2008 9:33 AM #
Wow, that surprises me. I used the 400g amount to make mine--no wonder it seemed so incredibly thin when I rolled it out to 24''!
Reply to this Posted by: Matthew | August 26, 2008 1:59 AM #
the correct amount is 22 oz 624 grams. thanks for