I’ve told you before how I feel about stone fruits. They rock my world.
But, alas, the season is coming to an abrupt end and I find myself scouring the produce aisles of my local markets for the last stone fruits of the season. I’m finding nectarines here, peaches there, but, like Elvis, apricots have left the building.
But then…cue some dramatic music… there they were the other day tucked away in a small display on a side aisle in my local Jon’s Supermarket. APRICOTS!
Woo-hoo!
So, OK, they didn’t look like apricots–no fuzzy skin, pink where orange should have been. (I know. I know. This isn’t my first rodeo. These should have been unmistakable warning signs that something was awry but, you know how it is. I. Wanted. To. Believe.)
Once home, I rushed to the sink, washed the pinkish little fruits, took an eager taste and waited for the distinctive apricot tang. And waited.
Ack!
These were not apricots.
Damn.
Pluots, maybe. But not apricots.
Damn, again.
Broke my heart.
So, I picked myself, dusted myself off and, reminded of that old adage “when life gives you lemons…,” I made a fruit tart.
I’m calling it my “It’s Not Apricot Fruit Galette.” It was delicious, by the way.
Fruit Galette
Ingredients
- For The Crust:
- 1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour
- 1 T. sugar
- 1/2 t. fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- Heavy cream (as needed)
- 4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter (cut into large pieces)
- 2 t. lemon juice
- 1/2 t. grated lemon zest
- Jam to coat the crust before adding the stone fruit (optional)
- Sparkling Sugar or regular sugar to sprinkle on the crust before baking
- For The Filling:
- 3 C. Stone Fruit (sliced) and Blueberries
- 1/2 C. sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Juice and grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- 3 to 4 T. cornstarch
Directions
- Step 1 To make the crust, combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. The processor should be fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a couple of times to mix ingredients together.
- Step 2 In a measuring cup, lightly beat egg with enough cream to measure 1/3 C.
- Step 3 Add butter to the flour mixture and pulse until the butter is incorporated but is still in chick-pea sized chunks. Add about 1/4 C. of the egg mixture and pulse until the ingredients begin to come together. You want to be careful here not to over-mix the dough. The mixture should still be crumbly and mostly be in large chunks. Add lemon juice and zest. Pour the dough mixture onto a lightly-floured counter and squeeze it together to form a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. (I’ve refrigerated mine for several days.)
- Step 4 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Step 5 When the dough disk is properly chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured counter surface. You will need a rough 12-inch circle of dough. Transfer the dough circle to a piece of parchment paper and put it on a baking sheet. Chill the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
- Step 6 Combine sliced fruit and blueberries in a bowl with sugar, salt, lemon juice, lemon zest and cornstarch. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes.
- Step 7 Remove the chilled dough crust from the refrigerator, spread with a layer of jam (optional), and pile the fruit in the center of the dough. If your stone fruit has released a lot of juice, you will want to lift the fruit out of the bowl and leave much of the juice behind.The layer of jam (I used apricot!) will help protect the crust from soaking. Leave a 1 1/2 inch border without fruit filling
- Step 8 this will be the clean dough that you fold over the edges of the fruit (see photo of the finished galette). Fold the pastry over the fruit, pleating it as you go. Brush the pastry generously with leftover cream and egg. Sprinkle sparkling sugar over the crust of the galette. (Regular sugar is fine if you don’t have sparkling sugar.)
- Step 9 Bake for 40 minutes (I baked mine for 50 minutes to get the pretty brown color on the crust). Remove from the oven and let the galette cool for at least 20 minutes on a rack before cutting. Can be served warm or at room temperature.
This recipe is adapted from a New York Times recipe authored by Melissa Clark. You can find the original recipe here.
