Stone Fruit Galette

Stone Fruit Galette. This came out so good I wanted to share it with you here on the blog. With summer fruit in its prime right now there is no better time to make this. You can use any combination of fruit, but I highly recommend doing a mix of peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries and apricots. And I also recommend this pie crust that I made a couple months ago, it’s so flaky and soft, it’s more like a pastry and works so perfect with this fruit. The difference is cake flour!

On the home front here, our vegetable garden is just getting started with some green tomatoes here and there, squash and peppers are still too small to pick, but the raspberry bush has been a real bounty, I’ve been picking and flash freezing almost daily, they taste so good on their own but I’d like to make something, maybe a jam or a tart. If this doesn’t get eaten within a day (how is that possible? ha ha) you’ll need to refrigerate the galette. I hope you are having a great summer, or winter depending on where you are in the world (hello Australia!). Enjoy!

Stone Fruit Galette

• 3 cups stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots) sliced

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 4 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

• 1 pie crust (recipe here)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut the fruit to about 1” pieces, save a few slices aside to arrange on the top. Place the cut fruit in a bowl along with the sugar, cornstarch and spices. Set aside. Roll out your dough to a 13” round.  Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet or in a cast-iron skillet. Spoon the filling onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch border around the edge. Fold the edges up and over the filling, forming loose pleats. Top with remaining fruit slices and cherry halves. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Galette

Strawberries! I love this time of year, not only is it warm and sunny, but my little strawberry patch in the back yard starts producing berries. I didn’t have enough for a whole galette so what could be better than to add rhubarb? I haven’t had rhubarb in so long I forgot how much I like it. When we were kids my sister and I used to eat it raw with sugar. But I think it’s better in this Strawberry Rhubarb Galette. Oh, and when I was making the pie dough I ran out of flour, I had some cake flour on hand and used about one cup hoping it would turn out ok, I’ve never heard of cake flour in a pie dough, in any case not only did it turn out ok I think I like it better! The crust is very flaky and a bit softer than I’ve made before, a little closer to a pastry dough. So there’s that little magic to add if you like. Until next time, enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Galette

• 2 cups of Strawberries (cut in half or whole if they’re small)

• 2 cups peeled and chopped rhubarb, about 1/2” pieces

• Lemon juice, about a half a lemon

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 3 tablespoons flour

• 13” pie dough, recipe below

Preheat an oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 13-inch round. Transfer to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

In a bowl, mix together the fruit, lemon juice, sugar and flour. Spoon the filling onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch border uncovered around the edge. Fold the edge up and over the filling, forming loose pleats. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Cut into wedges and serve. Makes one 9-inch galette

Pie Dough

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you can swap out 1 cup of flour for cake flour for a softer crust)

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled

• 7-8 tablespoons ice water

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the chilled butter using a stand mixer, a food processor, or a pastry blender until the butter is evenly distributed but still in large, visible pieces. Add the ice water to the flour and butter and mix by hand or with a wooden spoon so you don’t overwork the dough. The dough will be shaggy, place on floured workspace and work it together quickly until if forms a ball. Divide into two disks, wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you want to use it. 

Apple Pie

As simple as it can be to make Apple Pie, I still found myself searching for a recipe last week. You might remember I’ve made a French Apple Pie, but it’s actually been a very long time since I’ve made a traditional Apple Pie. So here it is! And the pie crust here is really my favorite, it’s easy to roll out and work with, when baked it keeps it form nicely without falling apart and at the same time doesn’t taste like cardboard. The apples? For this pie I used King David apples that we picked up at an apple festival last month. I’m never sure which apples are which these days with so many varieties, is it good for baking? eating? This was a good choice, they didn’t mush up and had a really nice texture, some bite to it, with a spicy flavor. So thumbs up on the King David Apples. 

We had a lovely Thanksgiving for two this year. I made a turkey roulade - a turkey breast rolled with dried cherry and sausage stuffing. It was the third time I’ve made this and it works out really great for a small feast. It’s deserving of a blog post so I’ll just have to make it again. I’m sure Jeff won’t mind.

Apple Pie

• 6-8 apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
• Lemon juice, 1/2 lemon squeezed
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 clove
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg for egg wash 
• 1 tablespoon or so Muscovado sugar (or large granulated sugar)

Pie Dough

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

To make the dough in a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar and salt until combined, about 5 pulses. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 5-7 pulses (you don’t want to over work the dough too much or it will become tough.) Remove from processor and place dough in large bowl, add 6 tablespoons of the ice water, combine with wood spoon. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it’s crumbly, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide in half (I make one half slightly larger for the bottom crust) and shape each into a disk. Wrap separately with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Filling and Assembly

Preheat oven to 375°F. 

In small bowl combine flour, sugars, salt and spices. In large bowl place sliced apples, squeeze lemon juice, then add flour mixture and toss until well combined. Set aside.

Roll out your bottom crust about 2-3” larger than diameter of pie dish, place in pie dish and trim around the edges. Add the apple mixture. Roll your top crust to fit, cut out any desired designs, place on top of pie, trim any excess and pinch the edges together with thumb and forefinger. Roll out any additional dough and use pie cutter to top with leaf or apple design. Adding a leaf pattern around the edges looks pretty. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and brush over top of pie, sprinkle some granulated sugar.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until brown. Allow to cool a bit before serving. It will slice better if you refrigerate and then bring to room temp. 

Also, I’m sorry to see these pie cutters are no longer available, I’m sure there are more out there but this was a nice selection of designs. 

Strawberry, Thyme + Peach Buttermilk Cake

It was Jeff’s birthday last week and I wanted to make him a special cake. I’ve never made a layer cake before and felt it long overdue. So I picked up some cake pans and cake stand and made it happen. I remembered that Eva from Adventures in Cooking has a lot of nice cake recipes and this one caught my eye. Oh boy is this good! The mascarpone whipped cream frosting is just about perfect. It’s creamy, holds up really well and it’s not overly sweet. I have to say that’s one thing I’m not crazy about when it comes to cakes. That insanely sweet frosting that overshadows any other flavor. But with this cake you can appreciate all the flavors together, a bit of ginger and thyme in the cake, layered with fresh peaches, strawberries and the perfectly creamy not-to-sweet frosting. Since this was my first time cutting cakes into layers it was a bit lopsided but not too bad. One thing, I would double the frosting recipe, I only had enough for three layers and this should be a four layer cake. Overall it inspired me to make more cakes. There is something happy and fun about a layered cake, and I find myself dreaming up new ideas which are sure to be posted on this blog. Enjoy!

Strawberry + Peach Buttermilk Cake With Mascarpone Whipped Cream

• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large peach, pitted and chopped
• 3 large strawberries, diced
• 1 tablespoon diced fresh thyme leaves

Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

(you might want to double this frosting for a 4-layer cake)

• 1 cup mascarpone
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 strawberries, thinly sliced
• 2 peaches, cut into eighths
• fresh fruit or flowers for garnishing on top

For the cake mix together the flour, baking soda, ginger and salt in a medium bowl until combined. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease 2 (8-inch) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper, set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Lower the speed and add the buttermilk and vanilla extract, mixing until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until a batter forms, then stir in the strawberries, peaches, and thyme until just incorporated.

Evenly distribute the batter between the 2 (8-inch) cake pans and bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake coms out relatively clean (unless you poked throughfruit bit), about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 15 minutes before running a spatula around the edge of the pan and flipping the pan over onto a wire rack, removing the pan and allowing the cakes to cool completely on the racks.

For the mascarpone whipped cream, beat together the mascarpone, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment at medium high speed until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Trim the top of the cakes so that you have a fairly flat surface. Then cut each of the cake layers in half horizontally using a sharp bread knife, you should now have 4 layers. Divide the mascarpone whipped cream into 4 parts and spread out 3 parts between the layers of cake along with the fresh strawberry and peach slices. Place the remaining fourth of the mascarpone whipped cream on top of the cake in a dollop and arrange fresh fruit or flowers around it, serve immediately. Will last a few days refrigerated.

Adapted from Adventures in Cooking