Ahhhh summer: long nights, s’mores and campfires, the reign of mosquitoes, and fruit, bucket loads of fresh fruit. If you’re like me, you go to the grocery store and “accidentally” buy all the fruit available (helloooo strawberries, blueberries, apricots, watermelon and mangoes), only to realize that your stomach can’t actually eat all that fruit before it spoils. I think the phrase of having eyes bigger than your stomach definitely applies to me.
I hate throwing away food, I truly do, especially when there are so many people around the world who struggle on a daily basis just to eat one good meal. I guess that’s why I love baking so much. With just some simple ingredients and heat, you’re able to transform quickly ripening fruit into something that will stay fresh that much longer.
I love galettes for two reasons: simplicity and rustic elegance. I can’t think of another way to haphazardly throw fruit onto the middle of a jaggedly rolled pastry crust and have it turn out looking as if it were ready to be served to the queen. Well, except maybe if you added frangipane. Frangipane is a concoction of ground almond, butter, sugar and eggs, that is SO good it’s almost a crime to eat. It also happens to be a great absorber of liquid. Which, if you’ve ever made a galette before, know that if there’s too much fruit liquid, it ends up absorbing into the crust and results in a soggy bottom. Add frangipane to the bottom of your pastry crust and it will absorb any excess liquid from the fruit as it cooks and you will get a perfectly crisp crust every time.
Also, as long as we’re adding ground almonds, why don’t we just jazz it up a little more? Enter bourbon and brown butter, a match made in heaven. It’s good. Seriously, this galette is AMAZING. Serve it for dessert, make it for breakfast, but whatever you do, a hide a small piece away for yourself before everyone else can gobble it up and shower you in complements.
BOURBON APRICOT FRANGIPANE GALETTE | Serves 8-10 depending on slice size
INGREDIENTS
for crust
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter in 1/4″ cubes
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg + 1 tbsp water for egg wash
- Sugar for sprinkling (optional)
for frangipane
- 1/2 cup ground almonds (aka almond flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter – 1/2″ cubes
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
for fruit filling
- 8 apricots – peeled and halved
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp bourbon
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375 (F).
- Melt butter in a non-stick skillet. Once butter is completely melted, place apricot halves flat side down and cook until surface is golden brown. At this point, toss in bourbon and give it a few seconds over high heat to cook the alcohol off.
- Remove apricots from heat and set aside to cool.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine almond four and sugar. Then add in butter cubes and using hands work butter, sugar and almond flour together until there are no more chunks of butter and mixture is crumbly.
- Add in egg and almond extract into almond mixture and mix with spatula or spoon until a smooth, but thick paste forms. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, butter and salt. Knead ingredients together until dough forms (~10 minutes). Alternatively, you can place ingredients into a mixer with the paddle attachment until dough ball forms (~ 5 minutes on medium high speed)
- To assemble, roll dough about 1/8″ thick and into a circle of 12-14 inches in diameter. Spread frangipane filling onto dough keeping a 2-3 inch gap along the circle for the galette to be folded.
- Place apricots charred side up on top of the frangipane before folding sides of dough up to encase fruit.
- Brush crust with egg and sprinkle with sugar if desired.
- Chill galette for 20 minutes in fridge or 10 minutes in freezer for filling to solidify.
- Bake galette for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool completely before cutting into slices.
Enjoy!
dumplings&donuts 