The easiest, best Pear Galette you’ll ever bake
Ahh, it’s finally November! The “ber” months are always my favorite time of year. The weather finally begins to cool off from the scorching hell that is the summer (I love the summer but I loathe the heat) and the holidays are upon us. In October Mariah Carey begins to thaw from her cryogenic freeze and by Nov 1st it’s “All I want for Christmas” for two months straight. I’ve always considered Halloween to be the first holiday during The Holidays, but next year since Joel and I will be getting married on October 7th, my anniversary will become the new first holiday of The Holidays, at least for me. The autumn mood is in full force and yesterday in celebration of November I made a Pear Galette.
Pears are one of those fruits that I don’t eat often, maybe a few times a year, and it’s usually in a dessert. I think of pears as the same way as I think of tomatoes - good but only reaching their full potential when they’ve been introduced to heat. A true glow-up of sorts. This is honestly one of my favorite things I’ve ever baked.
Pear Galette
Ingredients:
1 piecrust, store bough or homemade (see this recipe for homemade)
4 Anju pears (other types will work, but I personally like these the most)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons flour
1 large egg, beaten
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425. Mix together sugar, spices, and flour in a bowl and set aside. Cut the pears in half and core (remove seeds and the tough area immediately around them). Slice the pears thinly either vertically or horizontally (it doesn't matter - I cut mine vertically). Set aside.
2. If you’re using homemade dough, roll the dough into a circle 12 inches across and then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If using a pre-made dough, unravel from its packaging and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Arrange the pears onto the dough being sure to leave about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of dough around the edges uncovered. If you want, you can do some type of concentric pattern for aesthetic purposes (to be honest I tried doin this but ended up just placing them in a way that was quick and easy, no biggie - it’ll still taste the same). Sprinkle all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar mixture on the pears, making sure to get in between the pear slices. Fold the uncovered dough around the pears over the top of the galette and then brush with the beaten egg. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mix over the egg washed dough. Bake for 30 minutes. Galette should be nicely browned and bubbling.
Farmer’s Market, Lululemon, and a Peach Tart
You might not expect it, but Kansas City has a pretty incredible open air farmer’s market. I don’t live in Kansas City of course, but my mom and sister have lived there off and on over the years, so every time I’m in town I wake everyone up early and drag them there with me. Mom and Joel love it, my sister is probably indifferent towards the whole thing, and my niece will go, albeit begrudgingly, and usually requires some incentivizing - this time it was a promise to stop by Lululemon (yes, Lulufreakinglemon). My niece is almost ten, so she’s getting to that age where she wants all the same things that her friends have and apparently all ten year olds these days want Lululemon. I don’t get it, but who am I to judge? When I was around her age, maybe a little older, all I wanted was Abercrombie. I guess it’s the same odd thing. Anyway, I obliged and went and bought her a tank top that she wanted. Her smile and excitement afterwards made it worth while, plus I get the all the Cool Guncle points for buying her first piece of apparel from Lululemon.
I was able to pickup a few things - some leafy greens for salads, chestnuts (which, as we speak, are sitting in the freezer unused because I honestly don’t know what to do with them), a bottle of blackberry liquor made from a local distillery, and my favorite find of the day: fresh peaches. Not those hard, flavorless, and dry variety from the supermarket but fresh, fresh, juicy peaches.
So what is one to do with all those fresh peaches? Make a peach tart of course. Enjoy all of the buttery, flaky goodness of the crust and sweetness of the peaches in this delicious “whip it up in no time” desert. Feel free to use a store bough crust, I know it’s time consuming and tedious to make one from scratch. But if you’re feeling adventurous in the kitchen, the recipe for a pie crust is below.
Peach Tart
Ingredients
Pie Crust - Partially Baked (recommended but store bought is of course perfect, too)*
*If using store bought, follow package directions for a partially baked pie crust.
2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
6 oz cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 cup ice cold water
9 inch pie, cake, or quiche pan
Instructions:
1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the cold butter and shortening. Using your finger tips, rub the ingredients together breaking apart the butter into smaller and smaller chunks until the mixture looks lumpy and flaky. At once, add the water. Using your hands combine all the ingredients and form the dough into a loose mound. If the dough seems unusually dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
2. Remove the dough mound onto a floured surface and smear in an upward motion using the heel of your hand. Regather dough in a mound and smear until the butter is well incorporated. Regather and kneed gently to form into a ball, avoiding any large cracks in the dough. Dust lightly with flour and wrap in parchment or waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins, or overnight.
3. When ready, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the dough on a floured surfaced and work into a flattened circle with your hands. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough away from you, so that it’s several inches past the diameter of your pie or cake pan. Form into pie pan and remove excess dough, keep for later. Prick the crust with a fork on the bottom and around the edges. Line the pie crust with parchment paper and fill the inside with something heave such as dry beans to keep it from puffing. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes, remove the parchment paper and dry beans, and place back into the oven for a further 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
Ingredients:
Peach Filling
Mixed berry fruit spread or jam
3 ripe peaches, cut into slices about 1/2 in thick
3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix the sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and optional almond extract. Using your fingers, smush the ingredients together until it’s all mixed and has a sand like texture. Set aside.
2. Using a spatula, smear the bottom of the pie crust lightly with the fruit spread. This acts as a way to glue the peaches down and also creates a layer to protect the crust from potentially becoming too soggy. Arrange the peaches in the pie crust in a concentric circle - don’t worry if it’s not perfect or if you need to overlap the peaches to fit them all in. Sprinkle on all of the sugar mixture (yes, all of it).
3. Bake for 35 minutes in the center rack of the oven. It should be bubbly and mostly all of the sugar mixture should be absorbed into the bubbly filling but some will remain crusted on top. If you feel it needs a little more time, add an extra five minutes or so, but don’t exceed 40-45 minutes.