If you’re not familiar with the term galette, it generally refers to round, flat, freeform pastries, either sweet or savory. A sweet galette is generally filled with fresh fruit like apples, peaches, or berries. The pastry is crisp and flaky, the center sweet and juicy. It's basically a less stressful version of a pie.

This recipe isn’t difficult—you just need to be careful with the pastry. For the pastry to be truly crisp and flaky, you need to be mindful of a few crucial things:

  • Use cold butter and ice-cold water.
  • Pulse in the food processor until just combined. Do not overmix.
  • Refrigerate dough for at least one hour before rolling.
  • Roll and assemble the pastry quickly, with minimal handling.

Pastry Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1–2 tsp. kosher salt
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 14 tbsp. cold butter or margarine
  • 6 tbsp. ice water

Filling Ingredients

  • 2 cups cranberries
  • 2 mcintosh apples, diced
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp. flour
  • ¼ tsp. ginger
  • ¼ tsp. nutmeg
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice

For the glaze

  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp. sugar

Directions

  1. Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse once or twice to combine.
  2. Cut the cold butter or margarine into pieces and sprinkle on top the flour. Pulse in the food processor until the mixture forms large coarse crumbs. Pour the ice water over the mixture and pulse until the dough begins to come together.
  3. Remove dough from the food processor, wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 400° F, and toss the filling ingredients together in a bowl.
  5. Remove the dough from the fridge and place in the center of a piece of parchment paper. Quickly roll the dough into large circle. It doesn’t need to be perfect. The key here is to work quickly and not to overwork the dough.
  6. Place the fruit mixture into the center of the dough and fold up the edges. It will look rustic and imperfect—that’s fine. Carefully pick up the parchment paper and transfer the galette to a baking sheet.
  7. Mix the egg and vanilla in a small bowl. Brush the edges of the galette with the egg mixture and sprinkle sugar on top.
  8. Bake at 400° F for 40–50 minutes, until the crust is golden. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
  9. Dust with powdered sugar or serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Yields: 8 slices