I've always liked the "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" saying. Maybe because I eat a lot of them. Usually, I just munch on apples plain and fresh. But sometimes it's fun to dress them up, too. And the best way to do this, if you ask me? An apple galette. If you've never heard of a galette, it's basically a freeform rustic tart. In other words, it comes out looking perfectly imperfect.
I adapted this recipe from Too Much Food, who adapted it from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from Alice Waters & Jacques Pepin of Chez Panisse. (I love how recipes are handed around and reshaped like that.) I made a couple changes and omitted the glaze. The glaze tasted nice, but I didn't think the extra work drastically enhanced the taste of the final dessert. Go ahead and try it from the original recipe if you like.
Enough blabbing! Let's get baking. Watch the video below or here on vimeo.
(music: Pull Yourself Together And Fall In Love With Me.)
The Apple Galette (serves 2 to 4, depending on how generous you're feeling)
adapted from Too Much Food
for the dough
1 cup flour (I used a 50/50 mix of white and wheat)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
chilled water, as needed (I used about 6 tbsp)
for the filling
2 medium apples peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on how tart your apples are)
turbinado sugar for topping (optional)
For the dough, sift flour in a large bowl. Mix in sugar and salt. Cut in butter, working quickly, to prevent it from completely melting. Continue until the biggest pieces of butter are roughly the size of large peas. Add chilled water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just holds together. Gather dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
When the dough is ready, roll out on a floured surface or on plastic wrap to a 14" circle about 1/8" thick. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Preheat oven to 400°F.
For the filling, place apple slices in a bowl with melted butter and sugar. Toss to coat. Overlap the apples in a circle 2" from the edge of the dough. Continue spiraling inward until you've reached the center. Fold over the edges of the dough, and sprinkle dough edge with turbinado sugar if desired (I do this for added texture more than for sweetness).
Bake on middle rack of oven for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Rotate the galette every 15 minutes for an evenly baked crust. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
