Here is why pie is better than cake. Butter. Layers of flaky buttery crust filled with roasted fruit. Each ingredient gets a little moment when it comes to pie. And even better is the unfussy stone fruit galette, a simple rustic pie on a baking sheet. This is by far the flakiest pie crust I have ever made. Hands down. And it may seem odd to make a peach galette in the middle of winter, but I am getting very tired of incessant rain and I needed a little sunshine in my kitchen this week.
Really any stone fruit will work in this recipe, so you could use peaches, nectarines, plums or cherries. Anything that makes you happy in this bleak midwinter slump. Here’s how you make it.
I adapted the pie crust recipe from Four & Twenty Blackbirds. Is that not the best bakery name ever? I didn’t want to use a food processor or pastry blender, so we are going to use a different technique. Also, this recipe calls for apple cider vinegar. And before you turn up your nose, just trust me.
To make the crust, get a mixing bowl and add your flour, salt, and sugar. Whisk it together. Grate the butter with a cheese grater to cut it into really small pieces. In a measuring cup, add the water, ice, and apple cider vinegar. Use a spatula to mix the butter and flour together. Then add a couple tablespoons of the liquid. Stir and add a couple more. We want it to start to stick together with some flour at the bottom. You may not use all the liquid, so do a bit at a time. Once it starts to form up, knead it in the bowl a bit with your hands until it’s a more solid mass and no flour remains. If it’s way too tacky, then add a little flour until the texture is like play-doh. Flatten it into a 1 1/2 inch disc and cover with saran wrap. Refrigerate for an hour or overnight. This will be a slightly stickier dough than you are used to, but it won’t be toooo sticky.
Cut your fruit into 1/4 inch thick slices. Put them into a bowl and sprinkle over two tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Stir to coat them all in sugar.
When your crust is ready, roll it out into about a 12 inch circle on a heavily floured surface. The dough is sticky, so you want to make sure you’re also adding flour as you need it to the rolling pin. Arrange the fruit in a circle around the dough, leaving a 2 inch border at the edges.
Brush the dough with a whisked egg and then sprinkle the whole galette with the remaining sugar.
Bake for 1 hour until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is roasted.
Cut it into 6 triangles and serve with ice cream!
This stone fruit galette is beautiful and you’ll be shocked at how buttery the crust is. Try the full recipe below. If you like this recipe you can also try my Apple Galette!
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1½ tsp granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold butter, grated with a cheese grater
- ½ cup cold water
- ½ cup ice cubes
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1½ lbs stone fruit such as peaches, plums, or nectarines
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 egg, beaten
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, and sugar and whisk together. Add the grated butter. Stir together with a plastic spatula. Use your hands to incorporate the butter into the flour by pinching the mixture together.
- In a measuring cup, add the cold water, ice cubes and apple cider vinegar. Pour in just two tablespoons of this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir using the spatula, and add two more tablespoons and stir. When the dough starts to stick together and form a shaggy ball with some leftover flour, stop adding liquid. You may not use all the liquid, so stop before it gets sticky. It should be shaggy. Use your hands to form the dough together into a ball until all the flour is incorporated. Flatten this into a 1½ inch thick disc. It will probably be a bit wetter than pie dough you're used to. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Cut your stone fruit in half and slice into ¼ inch thick slices. Put the slices in a bowl. In a small cup, mix together 2 tbsp of the sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle this over the fruit and gently stir to coat.
- Once your dough is ready, remove from the refrigerator. Sprinkle a clean countertop with flour. Put your dough on the floured surface and sprinkle more flour on top. Roll the dough out, continually flouring when it gets sticky. You want to make a 12-14 inch circle. Place the dough circle on a large sheet of parchment.
- Carefully arrange the slices in layers into a circle in the center of the dough, leaving a 2 inch perimeter around the edges. Fold the edges into the center over the edges of the fruit, pinching the dough together where it meets.
- Whisk an egg and brush the egg gently over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar over the entire galette. Put the parchment and galette on a baking sheet, and bake for an hour. It should be golden brown and the fruit will be soft. Cut into triangles and serve with ice cream if desired.
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