Plum and Pluot Galette

For years now I've thought baking just wasn't my thing. It's too precise, requires a lot of technique and I'm just not patient enough to embrace it. 

But I also believe that knowing how to make a pie crust from scratch is an important life skill. I churned out many failed crusts before my friend Leslie showed me what a good dough feels like in your hand. That gave me confidence, but I still produced no pies.

Until this summer, when I found the galette. Not quite a pie, not a tart, the galette is a rustic bit of deliciousness that is simple, easy and a total crowd pleaser. What's not to love about that?

Plum and Pluot Galette

From Chez Panisse Café Cookbook

Serves 8

10 ounces Galette Dough (recipe below), rolled into a 14-inch circle

1 1/4 pounds ripe plums and pluots unpeeled

About 1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon ground almonds 

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Optional: 2 tablespoons plum jam

Preheat over to 400º.

Remove pre-rolled dough from the refrigerator or freezer and place on a buttered or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Cut the plums and pluots in half and gently twist the halves to separate them. Remove the pits and cut the fruit into slices about 1/3-inch thick. You should have about 5 cups of sliced fruit.

Mix 2 tablespoons of the sugar with the flour and ground almonds (I just chopped my almonds very finely), and sprinkle the mixture over the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border. Arrange the fruit slices on the dough in barely touching concentric circles, again leaving the 2-inch border. Sprinkle the fruit evenly with 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

Trim away most of the 2-inch border, leaving about 1/2 inch of pastry. (Save the trimmings to make little sugar cookies.) Finish the tart by folding the exposed border over on itself, crimping to make a narrow pastry rim around the fruit. Brush the rim generously with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in the lower third of the over for 45-50 minutes, until the fruit is tender and the crust is well browned and its edges slightly caramelized. Let the alette cool for 20 minutes. If you would like to glaze the tart, brush it with a little gently heated plum jam. Serve the tart warm with vanilla ice cream.

Galette Dough

Makes 20 ounces dough, enough for 2 galettes or tarts

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing blow. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Add half the butter to the flour mixture and work it into the flour with your fingertips, until the dough has the texture of coarse oatmeal.

Add the rest of the butter and quickly work it into the dough until the biggest pieces are the size of large lima beans.

Dribble about 1/2 cup ice water into the dough in several stages, tossing and mixing between additions. Don't try to dampen all o fthe dough evenly. It should look rather ropy and rough. Stop adding water when there are still a few bits of dry flour remaining in the bottom of the bowl.

Gather the dough into 2 balls and wrap each tightly with plastic wrap, pressing down to flatten each package. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before rolling. (Dough may be frozen for a few weeks.)

Roll each flattened ball into a  14-0inch circle on a lightly toured board; the dough will be a little less than 1/8 inch thick Refrigerate the rolled-out dough for at least 1/2 hour before using.