Apple, Nectarine and Blackberry Galette
Blackberry season is truly underway and by the looks of it, some of you are swimming in wild berries. Don't know what to do with them? Let me help you with that.
I’ve been recently favouring galettes over pies, not just because they require no faffing around with fluted tins and perfectly-chilled dough (albeit a huge plus), but because they tap into the more free-flowing side of menu planning. They’re easy to make, easy to serve and provide the necessary foundations for generous servings of ice cream. As the ice cream melts, the beautifully cooked fruit gets completely engulfed in the creamy custard. Hot and cold come together inside the crispest of vessels to deliver pure enjoyment.
Blackberry season is truly underway and by the looks of it, some of you are swimming in wild berries (remember to forage responsibly). While galettes are perfect for any season, I paired three of my favourite fruits together to bring you a summery take on this French classic. You could of course omit the apple and make it all nectarine and vice versa.
Apple, Nectarine and Blackberry Galette
Serves 6
Ingredients
for the dough
130 g all purpose flour, more for dusting
50 g rye flour
2 ½ tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp caraway seeds, crushed (optional)
170 g cold unsalted butter, cut up into medium-sized cubes
3 tbsp ice-cold waterfor the filling
2 nectarines
2 apples
125 g blackberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ tbsp red vermouth (optional)
5 g butter, cut up in small chunksfor the crust
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp shaved almonds
2 tsp poppy seeds1 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting
Method
for the dough
In a large bowl combine the white and rye flour, sugar, salt and crushed caraway seeds then mix well. Add the cubes of cold butter and flatten them with your fingers while tossing them in the flour and gently working the flour into the butter. Do this until you have a breadcrumb consistency.
Add 3 tablespoons of ice-cold water to the mixture and incorporate until it starts to come together into a ball. It may look like it’s too dry and you might want to keep adding water but continue kneading to bring it all together. If after a few minutes, it doesn’t come together then add 1 tsp of water at a time.
Flip the dough and any leftover bits of flour and butter that have not come together onto your countertop and work the smaller bits into the dough. It should come together easily after kneading a couple of times. Shape it into a rectangle then wrap it with film and place it in the fridge to chill for 45 minutes. At this point, you could leave the dough in the fridge and make the galette the following day. You could also freeze the dough for later usage, just make sure you thaw it in the fridge overnight before using it.
for the filling
Cut the apples and nectarines into thin slices and add them to a large bowl together with the blackberries. Add the sugar, vanilla extract and vermouth (if using). Mix well until all the slices are covered in liquid and sugar, then set aside until the pastry is done chilling.
prepping and baking
Preheat the oven to 190C and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, then set aside.
Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap it and place it on a well-floured surface. With a rolling pin begin rolling the dough into a rectangle (it doesn’t have to be a perfect rectangle), turning it often so as to not create any large cracks. The edges will inevitably crack a little bit, but rolling and turning the dough a quarter turn every time will minimise the cracks (you can always patch them up as you go). Flip it over and ensure there is always some flour on the surface so it doesn’t stick, keep rolling and turning until you have a rectangle-ish that is 30 cm x 25 cm, or until it’s 3-5mm thick.
Brush off any excess flour and roll the dough onto the rolling pin to help transfer it from the worktop to the lined baking sheet. Unroll the dough onto the sheet pan so it sits in the middle, ready to be filled.
Arrange the slices of fruit in the middle of the galette leaving 5cm along the pastry edge uncovered. I like to do apple-nectarine-apple-nectarine and so on, so there’s an equal amount of each fruit in every slice. Place the blackberries evenly on the surface and spoon the juices left in the bowl all over the fruit.
Brush the beaten egg all along the edge and fold over, overlapping edges and corners if needed to ensure the pastry sticks together. Once done, brush the outside of the crust generously with the eggwash and sprinkle the shaved almonds and poppy seeds all over it.
Place the small chunks of butter all over the fruit before putting the tray in the oven to bake for 40-55 minutes. Don’t forget to rotate the baking tray halfway through for an even bake.
You will know the galette is ready when it’s deeply golden, you can then remove it from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving with a generous scoop of good vanilla ice cream. Don’t forget to dust a bit of icing sugar on top!
Tip: If it’s not gone by the end of the day, wrap it tightly with film and store it at room temperature. You can warm it up in the oven again the next day before serving.
You can also make smaller, individual-sized galettes, just divide the dough into 4-6 portions before wrapping and chilling. Then continue with the rest of the steps.
Tell me all about your favourite summer fruit pairings in the comments.