Berry and Pecan Galette
This berry and pecan galette, enriched with apple and cinnamon and finished with a dash of whipped cream, will have you reaching for more.
The recipe is fresh, easy to assemble, and bakes in under half an hour, making it a quick go-to dessert before your guests arrive.
A galette can be presented as either a sweet or savoury dessert and can be filled with almost anything. Although it is usually made with puff pastry (Pâte Feuilletée) , it can also be prepared using a yeast-risen dough such as brioche, pancake batter, or sweet shortcrust pastry.
A galette is somewhat of a flat cake, as the French term suggests, and is created in a rustic style with impressionable colours.
I created this pastry with flavours and colours in mind. I wanted it to be zesty, spicy, and fruity all at once. For the cherries, you can use fresh or canned, but ensure they are pitted.
My parents own a pecan farm in South Africa, so I am admittedly a bit biased when it comes to using nuts. I therefore chose chopped pecans for this recipe, but when it came to adding a nut flour, I opted for hazelnut flour.
Serve warm with whipped cream.
Berry and Pecan Galette
Pâte Feuilletée (Puff Pastry)
Resting and chilling time: ± 3 hours
Yield: ± 500 g
Ingredients
225 g strong white bread flour
1½ tsp salt
225 g butter, chilled
15 ml lemon juice
150 ml chilled water
Method
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Rub or cut 25 g of the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Place the remaining butter between two sheets of cling film. Using a rolling pin, gently beat and shape the butter into a flat 15 cm square. Keep chilled until needed.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Mix the lemon juice into the water and add most of the liquid to the bowl. Using a round-bladed knife, mix to form a soft dough, adding a little more water if necessary. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it out into a 25 cm square using a floured rolling pin. Do not knead the dough, even if it appears slightly uneven.
Place the butter diagonally in the centre of the dough to form a diamond shape. Fold each corner of the dough over the butter, enclosing it completely and sealing the edges.
Roll the pastry out into a 40 × 15 cm rectangle. Fold the lower third up over the middle third, then fold the top third down over it (a single turn). Seal the edges by lightly pressing with the rolling pin. Brush off any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
With the sealed edges positioned at the top and bottom, roll the pastry out to the same size again. Fold and chill as before. Repeat this process five more times.
After the final rest, the puff pastry is ready to be use.
Galettte
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 30-35 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
500g Puff Pastry
450g Tinned or Fresh cherries (pitted)
100g Pecan nut pieces
30g Cranberries / Raisins
30g Dried or fresh apples , cubed
50g Castor sugar
50g Almond, pecan or hazelnut flour
10ml Vanilla extract
10ml Lemon zest
15ml Cinnamon powder
Red berries for decoration
Apricot jam for glazing
1 egg for washing
fresh whipping cream for serving
Method:
Roll out the puff pastry onto a floured sheet of baking paper. Place the roll out puff pastry onto a baking tray and allow to rest in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cut and prepare the fruit and nuts. Add them all to a bowl.
Sprinkle the castor sugar, flour, vanilla extract, lemon zest and cinnamon over the fruit mixture. Mix gently until all fruit are coated well with the sugar.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Gently scoop the mixture onto the centre of the dough.
Fold the sides towards the fruit.
Whip up one egg in a cup. Brush the pastry on all sides gently with the egg.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or golden brown and well done.
Remove from the oven and immediately brush the pastry with an apricot jam glaze. Decorate with fresh red berries.
Serve warm with a dash of whipped cream.