Pear and Apple Galette

I could not be more excited to make a galette. If you've been following me for a while, or have spoken to me in person or through social media, you know that I have an irrational fear of pastry or yeasted desserts. Why? I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's because it's something totally different for me than making a brownie or a cookie. It takes a great deal of patience, love, and precision when making crust or pastries, and so I decided that there's no time like the present to get dirty with some pie crust. This rustic pear and apple galette is literally perfect. A ultra flaky, buttery crust filled with cinnamon and baked brown sugar sliced pears and apples, folded over on the sides to add to the beauty that is a galette. I've made four more galettes since this version, and I am dying to make a fifth.

Pears and apples are the perfect fall fruit to add to just about any dessert. Making my first galette with these two fruits was only necessary for this season. What I love about making galettes in general is that there is no right or wrong way to make it. When you have your dough rolled out and ready to fill, you can shape the galette however you see fit. This first version was super rustic, the filling seeped out on all sides, but was insanely flaky, buttery, and filled with delicious seasonal flavor. This dough is ready within minutes, and with a patient chill time of just an hour, you'll be eating this galette in no time.

Galette Ingredients:

• Flour: all purpose flour works best for this galette. It is very versatile and has the perfect amount of protein and gluten.
• Ice water: it's important to use ice cold water here. The ice water helps to hold the dough together.
• Cold butter: grating cold butter (or cutting and pulsing in a food processor) into flour helps to coat the butter which will help with the flakiness of the baked crust. Plus, the bits of butter present when the dough is rolled out will release steam while it bakes.  Read more about why we use cold butter here.
• Sugar: sugar always makes things taste better.
• Fruit: whatever fruit you want to use for the galette is up to you! I love pears, and recently made a cranberry galette. Cannot wait for the spring and summer again to make stone fruit or a berry galette.
• Tapioca starch: used to thicken the filling as it bakes
• Sugar (cane or light brown): helps with the thickening the filling as it cooks.
• Spices: a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove go a long way here, especially with pears.

Galette Tips:

1. When prepping the dough, work at a quick pace as to not let the butter get too soft. Add the butter in just as you're ready for it. Keep it as cold as possible.
2. No worries to use a large mixer here, if you have a food processor, I guarantee that's all you need to blend the dough together. I poured the mixture after pulsing the butter together into a large bowl and mixed in there. It worked perfectly.
3. Let the dough chill as long as you want, but at minimum one hour. When you roll out the dough, you want the dough to be pliable, so remember to pull the dough from the fridge a few minutes before you plan to roll it out.
4. Leave enough space on the perimeter of the dough to fold over the filling. You want a hearty bite of dough when eating this, so be sure to leave enough of the dough to make the crust on top of the filling.

I will never stop making galettes, and eventually pies, now that I've found my base recipe. The possibilities are endless for galettes, and I fully intend on making some savory versions in the New Year. I cannot wait to hear what you think about this one; your loved ones will be blown away with your dessert at the holiday table.