I can’t believe it—my last blog
post was over three months ago! How time flies. Since July, I have studied for
and taken the LSAT, participated in four different belly dance performances,
taught burlesque classes (and choreographed a piece for my students for the
studio’s upcoming open house), written articles for the OC Register, and
started teaching religious education again. I’ve also done a lot of pleasure
reading, which has been amazing. There was some baking as well, but for the
most part, I was too tired to experiment with anything new. I even resorted to
cake mix on a couple of occasions, which was intensely satisfying.
Another
thing that has happened since my last post is Rubbing Sugar has turned one year
old! I can’t help but beam with pride when I look back at my very first blog
post and recipe for baklava. I never imagined so much would have happened in
the last year.
When
thinking of a recipe for this post, I considered making a big birthday cake.
What could be more appropriate for a blogiversary? But to be honest, there are
times when I would gladly choose pie over cake, and this happened to be one of
those times. So I will be sharing my recipe for apple galette, which is like
apple pie’s low maintenance sister. I swear I looked at over ten recipes to
come up with this recipe, and then it took two tries to get it just perfect. (Many
of these pictures are from my first attempt.)
First
I used Gala apples, but the acidic zing and crunch of Granny Smiths was much
more satisfying. I found that when making the crust, you really have to be
careful with not overworking the dough. I recently bought a pastry cutter and
was so excited to use it, it resulted in overzealous butter cutting. The
second time I made the galette, I just used a sharp knife to hack at the butter
chunks until they became small nuggets. This time, the crust was flaky,
buttery, slightly crunchy heaven. The walnut meal scattered beneath the apple
slices is really just delicious insurance—protection against a soggy bottom
crust.
A
couple things I love about galettes—you don’t have to worry about making it
look perfect, and it can be eaten sliced like a pizza with your hands once it
has come to room temperature. As just about every galette recipe states, this
baked good is supposed to be “rustic.” It doesn’t need to formed into a
flawless circle, the crust doesn’t need to be crimped, and no one will fault
you for not taking the time to arrange the apple slices in concentric circles
(although it does add some aesthetic appeal). And if the apple juices leak out
of the crust during baking, it simply adds character. And lastly, I love eating
with my hands. That’s why God gave us fingers, yes?
Apple Galette
Crust:
2 c. flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 sticks, butter, cold and cut into cubes
4-5 tbsp. ice water
Walnut filling:
1/4 c. walnut halves
1 tbsp. brown sugar, lightly packed
Apple filling:
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced into ¼” slices
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. allspice
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 rounded tbsp. apricot preserves
- First make the crust. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the stick and a half of butter with a sharp knife until you have a shaggy, crumbly mixture, with roughly pea-sized chunks of butter. Pour in four tablespoons of water, stirring with a fork. If the dough is still too dry, add in the last tablespoon of water. Bring the dough together with your hands, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate it for about 50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the walnut filling. Combine the nuts and brown sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the walnuts are ground into a chunky rubble. Set aside.
- Next, toss the apple slices together with the lemon juice in a large bowl. Mix in both sugars, the spices, and flour, and combine it gently with the apples until they are evenly coated.
- Then, take the crust dough out of the refrigerator. Roll it out into a large, roundish shape on a floured board, turning and flipping it every so often to make sure it doesn’t stick.
- Transfer the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and preheat the oven to 400º F.
- Sprinkle the walnut and sugar mixture into a circle at the center of the dough, leaving a couple inches of dough bare on all sides.
- Arrange the apple slices over the circle of walnuts. Fold the dough up over the edges of the apples and then carefully pour whatever excess juice remained at the bottom of the bowl over the apples.
- Dot the apples with the remaining pieces of butter. Lastly, brush the beaten egg over the crust. Bake for 45 minutes.
- After removing the galette from the oven, combine the apricot preserves with a touch of water and microwave it in a small bowl for about 30 seconds. Mix it until it’s smooth and then brush the preserves over the apples for an extra sheen.
- Let the galette cool for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve the galette warm or at room temperature.
