TWD: Summer Fruit Galette

Well played, Dorie... well, played, indeed.

Just when I was feeling a little disheartened... you come back with a vengeance. I felt like we'd gone through some rough patches lately. I'm not sure who's to blame, honestly... whether it's my inexperience with baking catching up with me, or possibly we just have different tastes. Whatever the case, I hadn't been too thrilled with the finished products for the bulk of the last few recipes. Sure, some of them were good. But they weren't anything special. The cobblers, the blueberry pie... none of those turned out well for me. I was starting to get frustrated...

Food Processor?? Bah! Who needs it when you got a pastry cutter?

When I saw that the latest Tuesdays with Dorie pick was a Summer Fruit Galette chosen by Michelle of Michelle in Colorado Springs, I set my expectations low... since I'd been bombing with the fruit selections lately.

A galette is kind of like an open faced pie. You use a pie crust, dump some fruit in the center and then fold up the sides around the fruit.

Cherry Preserves... so pretty and so damn tasty!

I decided to halve the recipe (per usual with me) and started preparing it Sunday. It came together pretty easily. We got to choose our own fruits and fruit preserves for the recipe and I chose fresh sliced peaches and cherry preserves. And yes, I was worried about the combination... I'd never had peaches and cherries together... but I was hopeful that my love of the two separately would also translate to a love of the two together.

Even after a quick blanch, these peaches didn't want to lose their peel.... ornery little buggers.

Everything came together quickly and easily... This was my first time with a galette and I gladly welcomed it's free-formedness (yeah, you're right, it's not a word).

No pinching required... just folding.

I did do one kind of stupid thing though... after I smeared the dough with the preserves, I decided to be smart and pop the pan in the freezer, while I peeled my peaches.

All folded and ready for the first trip to the oven

And yeah, great idea, you're thinking, right? Well... wrong. It got a little hard and dry in the freezer and so I had a little bit of a time folding it up without it just straight up cracking on me. I had to do some minor touch ups with water... and hey... it's free-form, it's supposed to look rustic, right?

The galette cooked in the oven for about 20 minutes and then the recipe instructed us to pull it out and spoon in a "custard" mixture into the center of the filling. Weird sounding, right??

Yes, I admit, I was nervous spooning this custardy mix into the center of the Galette...

When it came to making the custard, that was a breeze and I was able to fit about 2 tablespoons into my galette.

Thank god for Silpats.

But by the time I pulled the galette out of the oven for the last time, the custard had set (not weird looking anymore!) and looked like it belong there. The pan was all oozy and bubbly when I set it down on the counter. And the smell. Ohhhhhh the smell of peaches.

At this point, I admit.... I started to get a little excited. I mean, it looked so damn good and it smelled good. I couldn't wait for it to cool off.

This dessert, is absolutely amazing! The mixture of the fresh peaches with the cherry preserves and the sweetness of the custard in the center that just blends effortlessly into the filling. Yum! Yum! Yum! The crust was of course flaky, yet tender (god, I love that pie crust recipe). I will definitely, definitely be making this recipe again. Next time, I'll use more cherry preserves and maybe I'll even throw a few cherries into the filling as well.

This was a home run. Thank you, Dorie and thank you, Michelle for picking this recipe!

Check out the blogroll at Tuesdays with Dorie and if you want the recipe (and yes... trust me, you do) buy Dorie's Book... Baking: From My Home to Yours or go to the above link to Michelle's blog.