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June 15, 2014
This is my first go at a galette, and I’m completely enamored. The simplicity of the dessert allows perfect summer fruit to take the main stage. Today: Juicy, intoxicating nectarines. Paired with the richness of almond and the slight headiness of cardamom (rubbed into the pastry), this galette is a delight. Frangipane is traditionally made from ground almonds, sugar, butter, and egg—but we’re having a non-tradish frangipane moment, stripping it down to almonds, sugar, and a little flour.
Many thanks to Deb at Smitten Kitchen for the recipe (originally adapted from my food hero Alice Waters), which I modified to arrive at this one.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1 cup flour
- 1/8 tsp . salt
- ½ tsp . sugar
- ¼ tsp . ground cardamom
- 6 tbsp . unsalted butter chilled and cut into ½ inch cubes
- 4-5 tbsp . ice water
Filling
- 2 tbsp . ground raw almonds
- 1 tbsp . + 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp . flour
- 4-5 in nectarines cut half and then cut into fourths (8 slices per nectarine)
- ¼ cup sugar & ground almond mixture 1 tbsp. ground almond and the rest sugar
- 1 tbsp . unsalted butter melted
- 2 tbsp . sugar & ground almond mixture 1 tsp. ground almond and the rest sugar
- sprinkle of cardamom
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients for pastry in a bowl. Add in 6 tbsp. butter, and cut with knives or a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse corn meal. Add in 4 tbsp. ice water and use a rubber spatula to bring the dough together. Use another tbsp. of ice water if necessary to bring the dough together, and knead for just a few moments to shape it into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk and cover in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Remove from fridge, roll out on lightly floured surface until it’s about 1/8 inch thick and approx. 14 inches in diameter. Place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate another 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix 2 tbsp. ground almonds, 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar, and 1 tbsp. flour in a small bowl and set aside.
- When you’re ready to bake, remove dough from fridge and sprinkle the ground almond/sugar/flour mixture into the center of the dough, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border around the edge. Arrange the nectarine slices in concentric circles over the frangipane mixture, still leaving the pastry border at the edges. Sprinkle the ¼ cup sugar/almond mixture over the fruit. Top with an extra pinch of cardamom. Fold and pinch the edges of the dough in and over the fruit, making sure there are no breaks or tears. Brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar & ground almond mixture.
- Bake for 38-40 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the edges are beginning to caramelize.
