This peach galettte is easier to make than a pie, and is a crispy, buttery summer treat! You can also use any seasonal fruit you may have-I can’t wait to try apples!
Ingredients
- pie crust: my tried-and-true all-butter pie crust is made with flour, sugar, salt, butter, apple cider vinegar, and ice water, and comes together quickly in a food processor.
- peaches: are the star of the show, so look for the best, in-season fresh peaches you can find.
- brown sugar: adds sweetness and a hint of caramel.
- lemon juice: for a bright balance to the otherwise sweet peach filling.
- vanilla: just a splash of the good stuff.
- arrowroot starch: thickens the peach juices, and creates a smooth, shiny filling without any noticeable taste.
- cinnamon and ginger: warming spices complement the natural peach flavors (though with peak season fruit you may not even need them!).
- salt: a pinch, always, to enhance all the other flavors. My favorite to bake with is Diamond Crystal.
- apricot (or peach) jelly: optional, but adds a lovely, glossy shine, worthy of a bakery display case.
Making the filling
This peach tart is one of my favorite ways to highlight one of my favorite Summer ingredients: ripe and juicy peaches!
Sliced peaches are tossed with the sugar, lemon, spices, and starch, then layered over the dough. You can arrange the peaches carefully into symmetrical spirals, or pile them unceremoniously into a free-form mound in the center – equally delicious options. You can peel them, or not. The name of the game here is flexibility.
For a shiny bakery style fruit tart finish, I like to brush the peaches with some warmed apricot jam right when the galette comes out of the oven, but this is completely optional. You can also top with sanding sugar or simply leave the top plain. Of course, serving a la mode with scoops of creamy vanilla ice cream is always welcome, too.
Feel free to mix-and-match the peaches with any other stone fruit. Plums, nectarines, apricots, etc. – or even a handful of berries – would all work well. This is a dessert best inspired by the season.
Making the crust
This peach galette begins with a classic all-butter crust. It’s the same dough I use for pies, and equally delicious in this form. I make mine with a food processor, which works quickly and keeps the butter cold (key for flaky pastry), but you can also go the traditional route and use a pastry blender.
The dough needs to rest for about an hour in the refrigerator before rolling, which allows the gluten in the flour time to relax and the butter to firm up and fully chill. This reduces potential for dough shrinkage, and makes for super buttery, tender, flaky pie crust.
Next, the pastry is rolled out into a roughly 12-inch circle. The peach filling is layered in the center, and the edges are folded around it. Finally, the pastry is brushed with an egg or milk wash, key for that golden shine, and topped with coarse sanding sugar for some sparkle.
Don’t worry if your galette isn’t exactly round or the edges are wonky or uneven. This is a rustic dessert, not an exercise in perfection. As long as the pastry folds around the edges enough to hold the fruit in place, you’re fine. The galette will still emerge from the oven, golden and bubbly, with caramel fruit, delicious and ready to impress.
How do I keep the galette from getting soggy?
There are a few easy ways to ensure a fully cooked galette crust: Bake your galette on a parchment paper-lined heavy bottomed baking sheet. Use a baking stone if you have one. Be sure to use arrowroot starch in the filling. Most importantly, be sure to cook the galette long enough (and tent with foil if the top starts to brown too quickly). You’ll know when it’s done when the crust is golden and the peach juices begin to bubble.
