A Galette is in an of itself a dessert of laziness. It's a poor mans pie. It's a, throw whatever you like into the middle of rolled out dough, fold over, bake, and voila. And while technically all that is true, like pie, mastering the filling is where all the difficulty lies. I made this around 10 times in the past 3 weeks, and I can definitely say it was NOT as easy as just throwing fruit onto the middle of dough. I also had to learn how to judge the ripeness of fruit in terms of timing and how to speed up the ripening process.
First and foremost, it MUST be stated that apricots, even when super soft, sweet, and ripe, become INEDIBLE sour when cooked. How this fact was not plastered all over the internet is beyond me (Just another reason why I think cooking is so difficult and why I don't trust anyone or any recipe online). CI casually states you can interchange apricots, peaches, or plums in this recipe with only a slight adjustment in the sugar. NOPE. I can't speak for peaches or plums, but I would ABSOLUTELY NOT assume I could use the same amount of sugar for those 2 fruits.
The original CI recipe says to use anywhere from 3-5 TBL of sugar in the filling. NOPE. NOT EVEN CLOSE. You need DOUBLE that amount for apricots.
If the fruit are not ripe, no amount of sugar can ever really mask the tartness of them. I would not make this unless both fruits are fully ripe.
ripening fruit:
There are really 2 choices for me when I approach this:
1. Go to the market and find the ripest fruits possible. The apricots can even have a few wet spots but should obviously not be rotting. Make the galette the same day, within a few hours. This all of course assumes your local market carries very ripe fruit, which is not the case all the time.
2. Get apricots and blackberries that are of equal ripeness so that they finish ripening at the same time. This could take anywhere from 1-7 days. I've gotten apricots that have taken a full week to get ripe. Determining this comes from experience. If one fruit is ripening faster than the other, just place that one in the refrigerator.
Testing ripeness is pretty basic. Just squeeze the fruit. Fully ripe fruit should feel soft, almost mushy. Blackberries come in small plastic containers filled with about 6.3 oz (approx. 1 cup) where I live. Don't be afraid to open up the plastic case and lightly squeeze the blackberries. They are also soft and slightly mushy when fully ripe.
You can place your fruit into a thin paper bag or wrap them tightly in newspaper. This will speed up the ripening process while absorbing excess liquid. But make sure to check your fruit everyday and watch for over ripening.
If just casually ripening, keep them at room temperature in open air.
note: once an apricot gets a wet spot, it will begin to break down and rot within a few hours. There is nothing you can really do to prevent this. If you are making the galette the same day, you can get apricots with a small wet spot, but if you are going to let them ripen, get fully dry and clean apricots.
note: do not keep apricots in plastic, even for a few hours. They can form a wet spot and start rotting in that time. As soon as you can, get them out of the plastic, especially if it is warm.
note: blackberries can start growing mold, even after 1 day, if kept in too moist and warm conditions.
ingredients:
dough
1. 7.5 oz of ap flour
2. 1/2 tsp table salt
3. 10 TBL unsalted butter (frozen in the freezer for 30 min)
4. 4-6 TBL ice water
fruit filling
5. 13 oz of apricots (after pit has been removed) - around 7 apricots
6. 6.3 oz of blackberries - around 1 cup
7. 1/2 cup + 1 tsp granulated sugar
8. 2 tsp cornstarch
9. 1/16 tsp salt
10. parchment paper
11. Lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional)
recipe:
1. Combine flour and salt into a bowl and mix. After butter has hardened in the freezer for 30 minutes, take it out and using a cheese grater, grate butter into the flour.
2. Gently mix butter and flour, but don't squeeze the butter.
3. After the butter has been mixed in evenly, pour in exactly 4 TBL of ice water and mix with a fork for 30 seconds.
4. Start to knead by hand. The dough should be slightly moist but still be very crumbly. The dough should NOT be wet by any means. It will come together and become smooth through kneading.
5. Knead for 1 minute in the bowl. If it starts to come together and feels slightly tacky, then just continue kneading for a few minutes. If the dough still feels too dry and crumbly, add another 1-2 TBL ice water.
6. Knead for a few minutes in the bowl (no need to take it out), JUST until the dough comes together into a monotonous mixture with no crumbs left in the bowl.
7. Squeeze dough into a rough disk, wrap with 2 layers of plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
note: - if you refrigerate the dough for more than 2 hours, leave it out at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling it out.
8. 30 min before you roll out the dough, adjust oven to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees farenheit.
9. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray.
note: - do not bake on top of a wire rack (bottom will remain uncooked and doughy). do not bake on top of foil. The crust can stick to it and make a gigantic mess. Bake on top of parchment. It will crust up nicely and slide right off.
10. When the dough is ready, flour a counter then roll it out to a 12" disk. Add a dusting of flour whenever necessary. Fold and pinch the edges a few times during rolling to create a smooth edge and a circular shape. Also, pinch and patch any holes. You don't want the filling to leak during baking.
11. Transfer the 12" disk to the baking tray.
12. Wash and thoroughly dry the fruit. Cut the apricots in half, take out the pit, then slice the apricots into 1/4" thick slices. You need exactly 13 oz of sliced apricots.
note: - measure this! Even an extra ounce of apricots could make the filling too sour to consume.
13. Measure out 6.3 oz of blackberries. Keep them whole and add them on top of the sliced apricots.
14. Pour 1/2 cup granulated sugar (MEASURE THIS), 1/16 tsp table salt, 2 tsp cornstarch (MEASURE THIS. I find 3 tsp cornstarch to be noticeably more apparent in the filling than 2 tsp).
15. Gently mix everything by hand until no white pockets remain. White pockets of cornstarch will not dissolve during baking, so much sure you mix until it is clear.
16. Pour filling into the middle of the 12" disk of dough. Use a rubber spatula to clean out all the excess liquid from the bowl onto the top of the fruit.
17. Measure out 1 tsp sugar and sprinkle it all on top of the fruit.
18. Fold outer 2" of dough on top of the fruit. Repeat around the circumference of the dough, overlapping every 2-3". It's supposed to look rustic, so don't worry too much about the appearance.
19. Quickly brush the dough with a little bit of water.
note: - I used egg wash before but I realized it browned more quickly which causes you to take out the galette early to prevent burning. Since we need it to stay in the oven a decent amount of time, skip the egg wash so it doesn't get too dark.
20. Measure out 1 tsp of sugar and sprinkle it all over the crust.
21. Place baking tray into oven. Bake for 20 min on 400 degrees, then lower to 375 and bake another 50-55 minutes until the filling looks bubbly and syrupy.
note: - Do not take it out until the filling looks bubbly and syrupy. If you take it out when the liquid is too loose, the filling will never set and be a soupy mess.
22. Take out the baking tray and allow to rest for 1 minute. Using 2 spatulas, with one on each side, lift the galette and place onto a serving plate.
23. Allow the galette to cool for a minimum of 45 minutes. Test the filling by lifting up the plate and tilting it at 45 degrees back and forth. The liquid in the filling should NOT flow and should remain in place.
note: - If you cut into the galette early, you WILL have a lake of liquid pour out. Individual slices can still be cut and served, with the syrup spooned on top of the fruit, and they will actually not look bad. But, if you want it to be perfect and look proper, you MUST let it rest for at least 45 minutes.
24. Serve as is or with a dollop of whipped cream.
note: - the galette can be reheated in a 300 degree oven.
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