You may remember for Mother’s Day this year my sons and daughters-in-law each selected a different cookbook and sent to me anonymously.
It was up to me to figure out who gave me which one…not an easy task! I guessed 1 out of 4, only getting correctly the one my son in San Francisco chose for me.
I adore each one of the books and have been browsing happily through them.
This past Sunday was Father’s Day and I was looking for a summer dessert to make. My husband loves fresh fruit, and loves desserts made with fresh fruit even more.
The peaches and strawberries are so good currently, and I had both on hand.
I found this recipe for a Strawberry-Peach Galette in the book Half Baked Harvest, a beautiful cookbook, and the gift from my son who lives in LA.
It turned out to be the perfect dessert!
Galette is a term used in French cuisine to designate various types of flat round or freeform crusty cakes usually filled with sweet seasonal fruit.
The pastry crust in this recipe included toasted and finely ground pecans, which added a delicious nuttiness to the galette.
The sprinkling of coarse sugar, in this case I used Turbinado, which is a less processed and refined sugar, medium brown in color with large crystals. It adds a nice crunch to the texture of the galette.
Here’s the recipe…
Strawberry-Peach Galette (Half Baked Harvest cookbook, Tieghan Gerard)
Crust
1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ cup pecans, toasted and finely ground
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
3 to 6 tablespoons cold water
Filling
3 ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Juice of ½ lemon
1 large egg, beaten
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling
Ice cream, for serving
Butterscotch sauce, or raspberry sauce, store-bought or homemade, for serving
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, pecans, and salt. Add the butter and use your fingers to break it into the flour until the mixture is the size of small peas.
Add 3 tablespoons of water and mix with a wooden spoon, drizzling in more water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough just comes together (a few dry spots are okay). (I only needed 3 )
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until no dry spots remain, about 1 minute. At this point, you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge while you prepare the filling, or for up to 1 week.
3. Flour your work surface and roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thick Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
4. In a large bowl, toss together the peaches, strawberries, brown sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Arrange the fruit over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Pour any remaining juices from the bowl over the fruit.
Fold the edges of the dough over the filling. Brush the crust with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Place in the fridge for at least 15 minutes or until ready to bake.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Bake the galette for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the fruit is soft and caramelized. Serve warm or at room temperature with a large scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of your favorite sauce.
Yum yum, and Happy Father’s Day to all those deserving Dads!