With summer fruit at its best, there has never been a better time to bake all kinds of stone fruit encased in a buttery flaky dough. Although you can prepare a galette with any fruit you’d like, I highly recommend one of my favorite combinations: Apricot and cherry. Aside from the great color combination, they let out just the right amount of water, which means they need less cornstarch (or flour) to thicken. So, their natural, intense flavors shine through even more.
Even though they are naturally supersweet at this time of the year, a liberal sprinkle of sugar on top of both the dough and the fruit introduces a lovely crunch.
I find Dorie Greenspan’s Good For Almost Everything Pie Dough recipe (from “Baking: From My Home to Yours”) perfect for summer galettes. Not just because of the brilliant name of the recipe, but also the amazing consistency, which is a lifesaver during hot summer days. It is easy to roll, full of flavor and turns out extremely flaky. I adapted the recipe slightly to make it sweeter.
Of course, a summer galette feels lonely without a scoop of ice cream. I like to serve it warm with a sprig of mint and a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Below recipe is for a double crust. I didn’t even halve the recipe. This galette is so good, you’ll be rolling out the second dough by the time you’re finished with your second slice.
And even if not, the dough will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days (longer in the freezer) so you’re ready to pop it into the oven with whatever fruit you have on hand. I made a red plum and peach version this weekend, and it was a hit! You may need to adjust the amount of cornstarch depending upon the juiciness of the fruit (use more for peaches for instance).
Another trick for a flaky dough is to sprinkle some of the sugar cornstarch mixture on the bottom of the galette before you lay the fruit. While the fruit bakes, this mixture will hold their juices and the result is an oh-so-flaky crust.
APRICOT AND CHERRY GALETTE
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan‘s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”
Ingredients
For two 9-inch galettes (you only need one for the recipe):
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 sticks of butter, cold
- 1/2 cup ice water
Filling:
- 3/4 pound fresh apricots, pitted and quartered
- 1/2 pound fresh cherries, pitted
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup sugar + more for sprinkling
- Juice of half a lemon
Other:
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- Vanilla ice cream and a sprig of mint, for serving
Method
- Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.
- Cut butter into small pieces and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.
- Gradually add ice water and pulse until the dough forms clumps and curds.
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients.
- Divide the dough into two even balls. Flatten balls into circles; wrap individually in plastic.
- Refrigerate dough for at least an hour.
- Remove one piece of dough from refrigerator; place on floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rough 11-inch circle. Trim the edges to a clean circle with a pairing knife. Transfer the circle to a baking sheet or pizza pan lined with parchment paper.
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Mix 1/2 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp of sugar in a bowl and spread on the bottom of the dough.
- Toss apricots and cherries with the rest of the cornstarch and sugar and lemon juice.
- Arrange the fruit on the bottom of the dough, leaving 2 inches of dough left outside.
- Fold up and pleat the dough over the top of the fruit, leaving the center uncovered.
- Lightly brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle both the dough and the fruit with sugar (1/3 cup should do it).
- Place the galette in oven and cook for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack immediately.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Your galette looks just beautiful! Cherries and apricots are a terrific combination. Dorie’s dough is my favorite one to use too. Perfect!
amazingly, for the first time first one to comment. it seems so delicious and beautiful!
I wander that “oh-so-flaky” crust.
It sure looks delish, but 3 sticks of butter? Oh come on…
Özge – Yes, but that is for a double crust. 1.5 sticks per galette..
Are you really as slim as we see in your photo Cenk? How can you manage it, just cooking not eating?
This looks wonderful. I’m betting that the red plum and peach variation was equally delicious.
Rabia – I am nowhere near slim! Baking all these and not overeating is definitely a challenge. Thankfully, I have many friends with appetites as big as mine.
This looks amazing! I love apricots. Bookmarked it for the weekend.. Thanks so much for sharing.
I agree with you about apricots and cherries–they’re made for each other. I just love making galettes, and now I want to make another.
The crust looks perfect and the galette looks lovely! I will try Dorie’s recipe soon! I noticed in Dorie’s recipe she also adds shortening along with the butter in the dough…is it still ok when you leave it out? Because I’d rather leave it out too 🙂
Hi Joey – I am not a big fan of shortening so I substituted it for butter and the result was still very flaky. Highly recommended.
Lovely galette. I love the combo of cherries and apricots. That’s one I’ve yet to try. Beautiful pictures.
The first thing that I saw was the crust.looks great.I made a similar crust for all pies , but I use egg yolk, I will must try with water. And I am not a fan of shortening too, I think that is unhealthy. I love apricots ,I am waiting for summer to find here
Very very nice galette! I haven’t eaten any apricots yet this summer, I need to get on that!
I don’t enjoy eating sweet things as a rule (I know, I know..) but I have one exception to this rule – fruity treats. Anything with fruit as the man star gets me every time. I love the sound of that flaky pastry too. Very pretty.
oh, I am so craving these summer fruits right now!
When I read “Turkish food” I had to visit your blog; while attending college in Istanbul I learned to love the cuisine. What is fun is that my most current post on my own blog is on growing apricots and a recipe for apricot cobbler.
I guess great minds think alike (ha ha).
Come on over and read my apricot post at terragarden.blogspot.com
Hi.. stumbled upon your blog through Gretchen’s Pantry and I’m glad I did. you have a beautiful blog.. and your galette… looks and sounds wonderful!
i adore galettes. But sometimes i like to use puff pastry, a bit more lavish ( specially the calories) but its totally worth it 🙂 Apricots n cherries is a wonderful combination.
My daughter made this to comfort me, and it certainly did the trick. It was beautiful to look at, utterly tasty, and had one of the best crusts I have ever eaten.
Hi there Cenk….I made the galette for a birthday party and it was a great big hit! The corn starch really did the trick and kept the crust from getting too wet on the bottom. One question…after mixing up all the fruit with the cornstarch and sugar there was quite a bit of juice in the bowl with the fruit. How much of that juice to you then transfer to the tart when transfering the fruit? I did not want to make the crust soggy and yet did not want to miss out on the sweetness and flavor in the juice. Thanks so much for your great site!
terra – Thanks for the note! Great post, by the way..
Alexa, Sylvia, Hillary, Helen, Jescel, Ellie, tribe.net – Thanks all for your kind notes!
Kate – Unfortunately, I have trouble finding good quality store-bought puff pastry here in Istanbul so either I have to prepare it myself or go ahead with a tart base.. But I hear you!
Joanna – Glad you liked it. How nice of your daughter to comfort you with this summer galette.
Jennifer – I dump it all in. You’re right – it would be a crime to not use that sweet juice. Instead of discarding the juice, I adjust the amount of cornstarch. From the combinations I’ve tried so far, apricots&cherries or apples&plums didn’t need much but I added an extra tbsp of cornstarch for the peaches&plums combo. Hope this helps.
Great looking galette! and what a perfect ball of ice-cream you’ve scooped up! What’s the secret? I never ever get such a round & perfect ball like you did…!
Thanks Tamami! I always chill the scoop. That way the ice cream never melts and stays in shape while I take a couple of shots.. Freezing the ball of ice cream right after you scoop it helps as well.
I made the tart with peaches and raspberries and just added a little extra cornstarch because the peaches were really juicy. The crust was really good and the tip about the cornstarch and sugar in the bottom worked really well. But I cheated and ate it hot because the crust was so crispy. I just ate it with home made whipped cream.
Looks very tasty…and great job providing such specific directions! I directed my readers here since my own description of galettes is more rapturous than step-by-step.
Love this recipe! I’ve used Cherry/Apricot, Cherry/Peaches, and Blueberry/Nectarine combinations – all have turned out really well!
Also, mint chip ice cream pairs nicely with these galettes.