This is one of my favorite desserts to make all year round, but especially in the spring and summer time when the berry seasons starts. It's easy to make. The dough is versatile, and you can use it to make delicious quiches, savory tarts or galettes. You can make the dough ahead of time, and keep in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze it for up to a month. You can use any stone fruit that you like that's in season, and you can also switch out different preserves.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Lunch, Main Course
your choice almond or hazelnut meal (to create the meal, add your choice of nuts into a food processor, and pulse until it becomes fine. You can make extra, and put it in an airtight glass and keep it in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks)
apricot preserves from Trader Joe's (labeled less sugar)
your choice of seasonal stone fruit or fresh berries, or savory toppings
Equipment
tart dish (either one 9" or four 4.25")
bowl
whisk
knife
food processor
rolling pin
flexible cutting board
cookie sheet and parchment paper if you are making a galette
baking brush for brushing the egg whites onto the dough
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor, add 1 cup of flour, butter, salt and sugar, and pulse until combined. However, make sure you pulse instead of holding the button down. After this has mixed well, and it becomes almost like a meal, add the egg yolks, water, and the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, and pulse ingredients until mixed. Take it out and put it on a flexible cutting board (I noticed it works best if you roll the dough out on the flexible cutting board for transferring to your baking sheet).
Shape dough into a ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.
To make a tart or quiche using a tart dish: On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry dough into a circle about 2 inches larger than the diameter of the pan. The dough should be 1/8" thick. Move the pastry dough to the tart pan. To aid in transferring the pastry to the pan, you can wrap the pastry around a rolling pin, center it over the pan, then unwrap the pastry. Gently fit the pastry into the side to line the pan. The trick is to place the pastry in the tart pan without stretching it so the thickness will be even. Press pastry dough into tart pan with your fingers, press the pastry dough into the fluted side of the tart pan. Be sure that the pastry fits snugly where the bottom and side of the pan meet with no air pockets.
Trim the excess dough using a rolling pin: Run the rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to remove any excess dough and make a clean edge. Patch any weak parts; If parts of the edge are too thin, reinforce them by pressing in some of the excess dough. If it is too thick, press some of the dough up over the edge of the pan and trim it away.
To make a galette: Shape the dough to a round or oval shape with your hand and fingers on a lightly floured surface. Once you have the dough flattened to a 1/8" transfer onto parchment paper by flipping the board upside down and peeling it off onto the paper that is on the cookie sheet.
Now you are ready to add your choice of preserve (Use the Trader Joe's preserves mentioned above). Start by adding a thin layer on, and leave about an 1 1/2" all the way around for the crust. Sprinkle a thin layer of the powdered sugar. Sprinkle a very thin layer of almond meal. Then, slice your fruit into about a 1/4" slices and arrange in a desired layout. I like to start from the outside and work my way in or you can chop up your fruit into squares and mix in a bit of the preserve to add some flavor to the fruit, then add to the galette. When the fruit is arranged to your liking dust some of the powdered sugar on the fruit to add a little sweetness if needed.
To fold the edges, fold the edge nearest to you toward the center. Rotate the galette and lift the adjacent piece of edge, and fold toward the center. The important part is really that there are no cracks where the juices will leak out during baking, so don't worry if it looks "rustic" ... it's supposed to! (If you do have a bad hole situation, you can always take some of the dough from another section and patch it up.)
Add a bit of the egg whites and a little bit of cold water and whisk together. Using a brush, brush the crust of the galette and bake for 15 minutes. Take it out of the oven and brush the crust one more time, return to the oven, and bake for about 20-45 more minutes. It really just depends on your oven. You may have to take it out earlier if your oven gets really hot but usually baking time is about 35-45 minutes. If you like it more brown keep it for a few more minutes.
Once it is done slide the galette with the parchment paper onto a cooling rack and let it cool for about 10-15 minutes so the preserves set a little bit. Serve with a dollop of homemade whipped cream with powdered sugar or with a scoop of ice cream… and ENJOY!
Notes
One important thing to keep in mind is that toppings lower in moisture (like raspberries, goat cheese, figs -- things that can't take 35 to 45 minutes at 350° F) should be added on part way through baking instead of from the beginning.