food to glow

Tender spelt crust encasing juicy colourful fruit, a few dots of cheese, and not much else. Galettes in miniature, for those who hate to share. Makes four or six depending on need/greed. 🙂

Change out the fruit if you like, but this is a great, balanced combination of flavours. Enjoy xx

This recipe is based on one I go back to again and again, my Cardamom-Spiced Fig and Plum Galette, from 2013.

Dough

100g stoneground spelt flour OR wholemeal flour*

100g unbleached flour OR plain white flour*, plus extra for rolling

¼ tsp fine salt

100g (1 stick, minus 1 tbsp) cold, unsalted butter OR vegan margarine OR coconut oil (the latter frozen briefly and chopped)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar or a fruit vinegar (I sometimes use my raspberry vinegar)

1 tbsp raw sugar OR 2 drops of organic liquid stevia (or to taste)

4 tbsp iced cold water

Seeds from one vanilla pod OR 1 tsp best vanilla extract

The Rest

4 tbsp ground almonds – optional (it helps absorb some of the liquid from the fruit; sometimes I do this and sometimes I don’t)

200g (2 cups) blueberries

1 ripe white or yellow peach OR nectarine

2 tbsp raw sugar or demerara sugar, divided use

100g goat’s cheese, crumbled – optional

1 tbsp lemon thyme leaves – optional

1 egg yolk, whisked OR 2 tbsp vegan cream or mylk

1 tbsp blueberry or other dark berry jam – optional

Equipment needed: food processor (optional), two baking trays, and baking parchment

*please do buy organic flour if at all possible to avoid some very nasty chemicals used on non-organic wheat.

Note: I do my dough in my KitchenAid food processor but you can do it by hand

1. Add the flour, cold fat of choice, vinegar, sugar or stevia and vanilla to the bowl of your food processor and pulse or blend briefly. Gradually add the iced water through the feed chute and process just until the dough starts to form a ball.

2. Decant the dough onto a floured surface, divide into four (0r 6) equal pieces and pat into discs. Wrap each in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for half an hour. This little “rest” does help the final texture of the baked pastry.

3. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F. Slice the peach or nectarine into twelve slices and set aside. Line two baking trays with baking parchment.

4. Roll out the dough discs to measure approximately 19.5cm diameter (7 ½ inches); transfer to the lined trays. Roll out smaller rounds if making six galettes.

5. Dust each with ground almonds, if using. Divide the berries and peach slices between the discs, dot with crumbles of goat’s cheese and thyme leaves, if using. Try and leave a good margin so that you can pull the edges of the dough up over to form a crumpled frame.

6. Pull up the edges of the dough to leave most of the fruit on show, with just an inch and a half or so undercover; gently pleat. Unlike in the Great British Bake Off, this kind of bake is not aiming for a uniformly perfect look. Rustic and homemade looking is good! And, those golden folds are the best bits.

filled, pleated and ready to bake

7. Brush the egg or milk on the exposed dough and sprinkle sugar on the dough and on the fruit. Pop the trays in the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Cover loosely with foil and bake for a further five minutes.

8. While the galette is baking heat the jam, if using. Brush the warm jam on the baked fruit as the galettes are removed from the oven. Cool slightly, then greedily devour with cream, ice cream or crème fraiche (we like the latter).