Sunday, August 29, 2010

Mini Stone Fruit Galettes


The heat is on. 120 mini desserts down, 1 two-tiered wedding cake to go.


I am officially halfway through another baking marathon, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. But as you may imagine, I don't find myself with a lot of free time right now. So I will let these next few desserts mainly speak for themselves through their pictures.


I will say though that I tried a new pate brisee (sweet shortcrust) recipe, and I won't be going back to the old one. Ever. The last one I used from Dorie Greenspan was good, almost sugar cookie like in taste and texture (maybe I did it wrong, who knows) but this one, oh my god, this one turned out flaky, buttery, and almost like a dense puff pastry. My boyfriend actually uttered the words "this is my favorite thing you have ever made". It's that good.

Take that crust and fill it with fresh stone fruit and ground nuts, and you have a winner. This is my kind of dessert, lots of butter, not too sweet, and comes in a compact size.

I made these galettes miniature of course, but you could also use this to make one big galette, for a fairly quick and quite easy dessert. Personally though, I can barely handle how cute the little guys are. I mean come on, look at them.

You know how some people gush and coo at any little baby they see on the street? Well that's how I am with miniature baked goods. I think I have a problem.



Mini Stone Fruit Galettes

makes 20-24 galettes

1 batch Pate Brisee (sweet shortcrust pastry), rolled out to two 1/8 inch thick discs and chilled (see recipe below)
2 large nectarines (or 4 large black plums), pitted, cut in quarters, and sliced crosswise very thinly
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup pistachios (I used pistachios with the nectarines, and almonds with the plums) ground finely
1/2 cup turbinado sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together your fruit, 3 tablespoons of sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Let the flavors mingle for at least an hour in the fridge. Meanwhile, remove one disc of dough from the fridge and use a 4.5-inch round cutter to cut 10 circles. (you may fit more, I got 12 out of some of my dough). Place circles back in fridge, and repeat with the other disc.

Pour fruit mixture into a sieve and set over a large bowl. Let as much liquid drain off as possible so your galettes don't get soggy.

I didn't get my dough as thin as I wanted it, so as I was assembling these, I placed each disc between two sheets of parchment paper and rolled them a bit thinner, and wider (about 5-6 inched across).

Working with 6-7 discs at a time (if you can fit all 20 of these onto two baking sheets, go for it, I chose to work in smaller batches) re-roll each disc if needed, and space evenly on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place about a teaspoon of you ground nuts in the center of each round, and top nuts with about 1-2 tablespoons of your fruit mixture.

Gently fold dough up around the fruit, crimping and pinching it together every so often. A trick here is to dip your crimping finger into your egg wash before each pinch, this way, they won't unfold and fall apart in the oven, as the egg acts as a glue. Brush some more egg wash over all the exposed dough (I just used my finger) and sprinkle about a teaspoon of turbiando sugar over dough and fruit. Repeat with remaining dough.

Chill assembled galettes for at least 20 minutes before baking. This will also help them stay together in the oven, and encourage the flaky dough to develop properly.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Bake on middle racks for 25-30 minutes, depending on how big your galettes are, and how thick the dough is, until the fruit is a little bubbly and the crust is a deep golden brown, switching pans top to bottom, and front to back halfway through baking time. Let cool completely on a baking rack, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator if you are able not to eat them all straight from the oven.

These are delicious served warm, but were really really good served the next day at room temperature. Three days later, they are still wonderful straight out of the fridge.


Pate Brisee
recipe from Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook

400 grams (14 oz) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
100 grams (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup water, chilled
665 grams (1 lb 7 1/2 oz) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Remove butter from fridge 20 minutes before mixing.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, water, and vinegar, stir to aid the dissolving of the sugar. Set aside in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then, stir again to completely dissolve sugar.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse in one second bursts about 3-4 times until butter is cut in and evenly dispersed. You should have visible chunks of butter in your flour mixture, this is where the flakiness comes from.

Pour mixture into a large bowl and make a little well in the middle of the flour. Pour the vinegar water mixture into the well and gently mix liquids into the flour with a fork. When liquid is evenly dispersed, dump dough out onto a clean surface and knead gently a few times, just until dough comes together in one cohesive ball. It may be a bit shaggy or falling apart, but that's okay, while it is resting the moisture will bind everything together.

Cut ball of dough in half and shape each half into a disc about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, or overnight. Take dough out of fridge about 30 minutes before you roll it out. Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to a 1/8 inch flat disc. Always start in the center of the disc and roll outward, turning the disc 30 degrees after each roll to get an even thickness throughout. Place thin discs on a flat platter or pan, and chill for two hours to let the gluten relax. You are now ready to cut dough into circles for the galettes.

I used this crust for another yummy dessert for this bridal shower, so stay tuned, more minis to come!


17 comments:

Emily said...

these are unbelievably cute! and delicious looking. thanks for sharing. just found your blog, it's great!

Francesca said...

oooh! so cute!!!! I would love some right now!

Tarrant said...

Oh my! Beautiful!

I have no patience with making tiny pastries but do love to eat them.

The Urban Baker said...

these are adorable. i love a good fruit galette and always find that it falls apart when too big. these little ones are oh-so very cute. did you make them in advance? and if so, how did you store them? lovely...can't wait to create some of my own!

Amanda said...

How cute, they look delicious. Perfectly sized for any picnic or party, love it!

Joudie's Mood Food said...

How clever are you with tthese little wonders. WOW. I love this. It looks perfect for canape parties. VEry beautiful pictures an di am sure taste! YUMMY!

HezzieHez said...

drool! cant wait for cabin weekend =)

Sakorarox said...

oh my goodness! These must have taken you forever! I dont think I could have the patience of sitting down and rolling each one out one at a time!

but it looks reallyyyy yummy though!

Bria said...

Susan,

I stored them in air tight containers in the refrigerator overnight before serving them. I am sure they are best straight out of the oven, but I was eating them a few days after the shower, and they still tasted amazing. I would just recommend letting them come up to room temperature before serving them, since there is so much butter in the crust.

Thank you to everyone for stopping by and leaving such nice comments!

M. said...

yours look so much better than mine, you folded them really nicely :)

Marisa said...

These are so cute!

Bria said...

M. - Haha thanks, I think yours were absolutely lovely. They are supposed to be rustic right?

Marisa - Thank you!

Unknown said...

120 of these little beauties, dang, nice work! I mean, I know it was a year ago, but still, nice work! I think I might have to make these with the abundance of plums I have right now, they're perfect!

Nura said...

I love this! Im so into mini desserts where it can be easily popped with 3 fingers. Thank you for sharing. What are other fruits you recommend?

Bria said...

the plum ones were my favorite!

I think you could really use any fruit you'd like, apples, any stone fruit, maybe even thin slices of the beautiful blood oranges that will be in season soon. cherrys, leftover cranberries from thanksgiving...the possibilities are endless!

Rebecca said...

These came out great for me. I love the dough, perfectly sweet and loved it with peaches.

Jonah said...

This mini stone fruit galettes are just one of the easy desserts you can actually make.

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