After Three Months Away...

            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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Transfer the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and preheat the oven to 400º F.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Dot the apples with the remaining pieces of butter. Lastly, brush the beaten egg over the crust. Bake for 45 minutes.
9. 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.
10. Let the galette cool for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve the galette warm or at room temperature.