Here is the dessert that I made for dinner with the parents. As you may be able to surmise, it was a relatively Provencal-themed dinner. Fall is such a great time to make produce-centric things, because of all of the harvests. I went to the Union Square Greenmarket for a lot of stuff, since I think it is probably the best-stocked farmers’ market around. Every time I go there, it is a culinary adventure for me. The vendors have such a diverse assortment of products, and I just love how fresh everything is! I’m not exactly a proponent of buying “local” or buying “organic” but I am a proponent of buying FRESH, and you cannot beat a farmers’ market for that. To be honest, my local grocery store is pretty much rubbish, anyhow, especially for buying produce – sure it’s cheap but when you get home and realise for the umpteenth time that you’ve ended up with something mouldy and you have to throw it out, it becomes less worth it.
Anyway, galette! A galette is traditionally either a round, flat, crusty cake or a sort of open-faced buckwheat crepe. This galette is basically a hybrid of the two – replaces the crepe part with a lovely, crusty pie crust.
Raspberry and Fig Galette
For the pastry
5 tbs cold unsalted butter
3 tbs cold vegetable shortening
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbs ice water
For the filling
12 figs (any variety), stemmed and quartered vertically
1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1 tbs fresh lemon juice (strained)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbs granulated sugar
1 egg beaten with 1 tbs heavy cream
1 1/2 c raspberries
1. Cut the butter and shortening into 3/4″ pieces. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Scatter the butter and shortening pieces over the mixutre and toss with a fork to combine. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter and shortening in until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of large peas. Drizzle the ice water over the mixture and toss with the fork until the dough is evenly moist and comes together in a mass (but not a ball).
2. Transfer the dough to a work surface. Shape into a 6″ disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until well-chilled, at least 1 hour.
3. Position a rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven, preheat it to 400o and line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
4. Dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll out the chilled dough into a round about 13″ in diameter. It will be about 1/8″ thick. Trim off raggedy edges so that it becomes an even 12″ round and put it on the prepared pan. Leaving 2″ border, sprinkle 1 tbs flour and 1 tbs granulated sugar over the prepared pastry.
5. In a large bowl, toss together the figs, brown sugar, 1 tbs of the flour, the lemon juice, the almond extract and the vanilla extract until all ingredients are well-mixed. Put the filling in the centre of the pastry, keeping it off of the border. Fold the border up and over the filling, forming little pleats around the edge and leaving the centre open. Brush the dough with the egg mixture, then sprinkle with 1 tbs granulated sugar.
6. Bake for 25 mins. Remove from the oven, scatter the raspberries on top, and then sprinkle with 1 tbs granulated sugar. Continue to bake until the crust is golden brown and the raspberries are beginning to soften, 8-12 mins. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. This can be served either warm or at room temperature.
Makes 1 galette
