One for Me…And One for You

As I was forming the dough for my Fig, Honey & Goat Cheese Galette from my previous post, I realized that perhaps I should make another galette for the other members of the family. After all, it did seem a wee insensitive of me to fire up the oven to 400 degrees on a warm summer day to bake one, single, solitary round of buttery heaven, all for me. Lest my family think me heartless, I decided it would be just as quick to make them a galette of their own, a fig-less one that would better suit their taste buds.

My eyes scanned the fruit readily available in the kitchen that day. Nectarines…not quite ripe enough. Bananas…in a tart? Maybe. Cherries…didn’t feel like pitting. Cantaloupe…uh, no.

Then I saw the strawberries and the plums. Bingo.

After I formed my figgy treat and put it into the oven to bake, I pulled out another disk of dough, this time a Pate Sucre, and worked it into a lovely little Strawberry Plum Galette. Good thing, too, because pretty soon, the house began to smell of baked butter, and everyone was wondering what good things were in store for them. Luckily I had a galette of their very own to present to their eager noses.

It didn’t matter that I arranged the fruit hastily – the beauty of the galette is that it is rustic. Throw the fruit in, let it bake, and its simple good looks forgive any haste in the kitchen. Besides, it didn’t even last long enough for me to take a few pictures. The whole thing was devoured in no time.

Strawberry Plum Galette

Makes one 8-inch rustic galette.

• 1 disk Pate Sucre (1/2 recipe, see below)
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced
• 2 plums, diced
• 3 tablespoons simple syrup (or sugar)
• 1 tablespoon cream or milk
• 1-2 tablespoons agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roll pate sucre into a 10-inch disk about 1/8-inch thick on a sheet of parchment paper. Toss the fruit in the simple syrup or sugar. Arrange fruit in the center of the dough, leaving a 2 inch perimeter. Fold the edge of the dough up on the fruit, pleating as you make your way around the galette. Lightly brush the dough with cream or milk. Transfer galette with the parchment paper onto a heavy baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle the galette with the agave nectar. Enjoy while warm.

Pate Sucre

Recipe adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, Oxmoor House, 2000. It can also be found here.

Makes 2 medium disks.

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup ice water

Place flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse till incorporated. Add the butter and pulse for about 10 seconds, until the mixture looks like crumbs. Add the egg yolks, pulse. With the food processor running, add the water in a slow drizzle until it comes together in a ball. Take care not to get the dough too wet. Divide the dough into two parts, place each ball on plastic wrap, flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough tightly and store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before using, or overnight until ready to use. The dough can also be frozen.

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