Blueberry Nectarine Galette
Say hello to the quintessential summertime dessert—this lovely Blueberry Nectarine Galette. It’s casual, rustic, fruity and a not too heavy way to cap off a perfect summer day. Takers, anyone?
If making pie dough, especially the rolling out and crimping part intimidates you, galettes are going to be your new best friend, because they’re supposed to be freeform and rustic—essentially worry free. All we’re concerned about is taste here and I can guarantee you that that will not be a problem!!
Think buttery, flaky pie crust filled with a mixture of bursting-with-juiciness blueberries and nectarines. Heaven!
It’s sweet and tart and crispy and soft—all the best things rolled up, or should I say folded into one! And I promise you, that you can make it. Here’s how—
Once you’ve chilled your dough, you simply roll it out any which way you please—no edges to crimp or worrisome circular shapes to adhere to!
Next you mound the fruit mixture, including all that syrupy juice, into the center of that dough—-
And then simply fold up the dough around it. Seriously, that’s it!
To round things off and make the dough extra delicious, you brush it with a bit of beaten egg and sprinkle with some crunchy turbinado sugar before popping it into the oven. Easy-peasy!
The hard part is waiting for it to bake! It’ll make your house smell fantastic!
When it emerges, fruit-juice leakage and all (that’s the reason a parchment-line tray is a must) you’re going to want to dive right in. And you should. This is not a dessert you stand on ceremony for!
It’s amazing on its own or topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. And so what if it doesn’t cut especially neatly (hence no photos) this is summertime and we’re not supposed to stress about small stuff like that, especially when golden brown flaky crust and meltingly luscious fruit is staring us in the face. YUM!! With all the fresh berries and stone fruit around (you could totally sub in peaches or plums instead), I’m thinking this would be the perfect weekend treat. Have a good one!!
Blueberry Nectarine Galette
Makes 6 servings
Prep Time for Crust: 15 minutes; Prep Time for Filling: 15 minutes; Assembly Time: 10 minutes, plus 15 minutes chilling; Bake Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
For the Crust
1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and refrigerated until very cold
1/3 cup cold water
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Ice cubes
For the filling and assembled galette
1/2 cup sugar
The zest of one lemon
The seeds from 1/2 a vanilla bean or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A rounded tablespoon unbleached, all-purpose flour
Pinch of kosher salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2 medium nectarines, pitted and sliced into 1/2 -inch slices (I peeled these but you don’t have to)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 large egg, beaten
Turbinado sugar for topping the crust before baking
The Recipe
1. To make the crust: In the bowl of the food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and pulse the mixture a few times, until the butter is the size of small peas. Be careful not to over mix. Measure the water out in a measuring cup and add the vinegar. Then add enough ice into the cup to reach the 1/2 cup mark. Give it a little stir.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water to the flour and pulse a few times to mix together. It will still look pretty dry at this point, so add in another tablespoon of water and pulse again. You want the mixture to look like a loose streusel topping, not a dough. If it looks really, really dry add another tablespoon of water and pulse again. This should usually be enough. Resist the temptation to add more water—if your dough gets too wet, it’ll wind up tough. You want it to look crumbly.
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface or board and gather all the crumbly bits into a ball. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerating for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
5. To make the filling: Place the sugar, lemon zest and vanilla beans (or extract) in a large bowl. Use your fingers to rub the zest and seeds into the sugar so that the oils are released. Add in the flour and salt and stir well. Then add in the blueberries, nectarines and lemon juice and let sit for a bit without stirring while you roll out the crust.
6. Lightly flour a board and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a 12-inch round, about 1/4-inch thick. Don’t roll too thin or the fruit will ooze out as it’s cooking. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet.
7. Now stir the filling well and pile it all into the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border and mounding the fruit. Fold the dough over the fruit and pinch the folds gently to help seal it.
8. Place the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes, so that the dough gets very firm. Brush the dough with the egg and then sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the juices are all bubbly.
Enjoy!
Note: Crust recipe adapted from Baker’s Royale; Filling recipe adapted from The NY Times. I omitted the salt from the topping and tinkered with some proportions.
