This fall our neighborhood newspaper requested a recipe for their December issue. I figured a simple tart would be perfect for the upcoming busy holiday season. And bonus! This season’s apple crop was off the hook! I was already putting apples in everything. A simple apple galette would be tasty and easy.
Fruit galettes are one of my favorite quick desserts. Galettes, crostatas and free-form tarts are essentially the same. Not quite a pie and not as fussy as a full-fledged tart. They are the dress-pant/yoga-pant of the dessert world. Totally comfortable, yet still appropriate to be seen in public. I wanted my tart to have a little something extra. Imagine soft, lightly sweetened, almond frangipane offset by apples and tart cranberries cradled in buttery flaky pastry. Sounds dreamy, right? You can totally make this!
This galette is super-easy to put together. You can find almond paste on the shelves of your regular grocery store in the baking aisle. From there the frangipane just requires a couple of buzzes in your food processor. A stand mixer or blender would also do the trick. Follow my foolproof Perfect Buttermilk Pie Dough recipe for the dough. Roll out the pastry, smear it with the frangipane and randomly scatter the fruit over the frangipane. Fold the edges of the over the fruit. After a quick brush of milk and a sprinkle of sugar your tart is ready for the oven. Just like that! As the galette bakes, the frangipane layer soufflés and browns around the fruit leaving pockets of crispy-buttery almond goodness releasing a scent that is swoon-worthy.
After your master this apple cranberry version, why not try this other fruits? Pears love to be baked with frangipane as do apricots and ripe berries. Try a combination. The possibilities are endlessly exciting.
- Frangipane
- 4 oz. almond paste
- 1 ½ t sugar
- 1 ½ t flour
- 6 T unsalted butter – cubed, room temperature
- 1 egg
- Filling and Pastry
- ½ batch Buttermilk Pie Dough
- 1 C fresh local cranberries
- 2 lbs (about four large) local baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- milk for brushing
- 4 T demerara sugar
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a cookie sheet or half sheet pan with parchment.
- To make the frangipane process the almond paste, sugar and flour until the mixture resembles in a food processor, stand mixer or blender. Add the butter and combine until smooth. Add the egg. Process until fully combined. Set the frangipane aside
- In a medium bowl toss the cranberries and the sliced apples together. Set aside.
- Roll the pie dough on a lightly floured surface. You want a circle of dough 16” in diameter. Center the pastry on the prepared pan. Spread the dough with the almond paste leaving a 2” border. Arrange the apples and cranberries over the frangipane. Fold the pastry border over the fruit.
- Brush the pastry border with milk. Sprinkle the entire galette with coarse sugar.
- Bake for approximately 1 hour – rotating the galette after 30 minutes.
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