This plum galette is a simple, rustic French tart. The free-form tart is baked on a baking sheet so there's no need for a pie tin making it one of the easiest fruit desserts to make. Almond meal absorbs the plum juices while the pastry bakes up golden and crisp. Perfect served warm with vanilla ice cream for an easy summer dessert.
About This Plum Galette
This plum galette is a rustic open French fruit tart made with a buttery rich pastry that melts in the mouth thanks to one secret ingredient. Tart plums are sweetened and fanned out over the pastry and the edges are folded over to create a delicious free form tart! There's no need for a pie pan or tin, just a baking sheet will do.
I'll show you how to make a quick food processor or Thermomix pastry as the tart base and a simple filling that absorbs any juices from the fruit.
What's the secret to the best galette pastry? Sour cream! Its acidity tenderises the dough creating a flaky, melt in the mouth texture. Maggie Beer made sour cream pastry famous. You can always tell sour cream pastry from one without because of that wonderful texture.
Video How To Make Plum Galette
Video: How to Make A Plum Galette
Ingredients For Plum Galette
Butter - I prefer salted butter. Make sure that it is cubed and then stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes before using it.
Flour - Plain all purpose flour is perfect for this.
Sugar - We are using two types of sugar: caster or superfine sugar as it will melt in the pastry and on top of the fruit. The second type of sugar is raw sugar on the edge which will add a nice crunch to each bite.
Salt - A bit of fine salt to balance the sweetness!
Sour cream - Full fat sour cream for that wonderful melt in the mouth texture!
Plums - Firm but ripe plums. Give those soft plums a miss for this dessert. They'll be impossible to cut into thin slices.
Almond meal - or ground almonds. You can also use ground hazelnuts.
Glaze - Use either 1 tablespoon of cream or an egg yolk.
Tips For Making Plum Galette
1 - Refrigerate the pastry dough between 30-45 minutes. You want the pastry's gluten to relax so that it is easier for rolling but if you refrigerate it too long, the pastry (as it contains so much butter) will become too firm to roll.
2 - You can also make the pastry the day before and keep it in the fridge overnight. Then take it out and let it come to room temperature suitable for rolling (around 15-45 minutes on the counter depending on ambient temperature).
3 - As the pastry is so buttery it can be hard to roll as it can stick to the rolling pin. To help with this, cover the dough with cling film and then roll out.
4 - Use firm plums only for this tart - soft, mushy ones will be hugely frustrating and you won't be able to get nice slices.
5 - Removing the pit is easiest with firm plums as you can cut around the pit with a small knife.
6 - If you are short some plums, fan them out a little more so that they spread out a bit more.
7 - The filling is to absorb the liquid that comes out of the plums.
8 - Tip: refrigerate the galette for 15 minutes before baking so that the pastry bakes up better.
Preparation time: 20 minutes plus 1 hour resting/refrigerating time
Cooking time: 40-45 minutes
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients Needed
For Pastry:
200g/7ozs. butter, chilled and cubed (frozen 10 minutes)
2 cups/300g/10.6ozs plain all purpose flour
40g/1.7oz caster or superfine sugar
Pinch salt
75g/2.7ozs. sour cream
For Filling:
600g/1.3lbs plums
50g almond meal
25g plain all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cream or an egg yolk for glaze
1 tablespoon raw sugar
4 tablespoons caster or superfine sugar
To Serve
Vanilla Ice Cream
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 PASTRY - Place the butter, flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and blitz until you get a fine breadcrumb texture (Thermomix 20 seconds, speed #6). Add in the sour cream and pulse until it just comes together (Thermomix turbo 2 seconds, twice).
Step 2 BALL - Flour a surface lightly and shape the dough into a ball. Then press dough ball down into a flat round. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 30-45 minutes to rest.
Cutting down the centre line
Step 3 PLUMS - When the pastry has 15 minutes to go, cut the plums in half along the line and remove the seed (cut around it if it doesn't come out easily). Slice plum half thinly and keep slices bunched together in half plum sections and place on a plate. Cover and place in the fridge until needed.
Step 4 ROLL - When the pastry has had its time, remove cling film and place the dough round on a large sheet of parchment. Cover with the cling film used before and then using a rolling pin, roll out to a 30cm/12inch round. You can trim around the edges to make it more even with a pizza cutter or small knife or leave it be - we are going for rustic rather than perfection.
Rolling out pastry using cling film so that the pastry doesn't stick to the rolling pin
Step 5 FILLING - In a bowl, mix the almond meal, flour and sugar together. Spread across the dough leaving a 1 inch border. Place the plum sections on top of the filling arranging in different directions and fanning out the slices. Fold over the pastry back on top of the fruit edge.
Step 6 BAKE - Brush cream or egg yolk around the folded over edge and sprinkle with raw sugar. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. In the meantime preheat oven to 180C/350F fan forced or 200C/392F conventional. Bake galette for 30 minutes, then turn around for even baking and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden. Cool for 15 minutes and then serve with vanilla ice cream.
Personal Note
I baked this plum galette for Mr NQN for our wedding anniversary. He loves anything fruit based and I was scrambling for ideas as our anniversary came up suddenly as it has been a hectic few months and our anniversary is just near Valentines Day.
We did go out to dinner though and it was a gorgeous meal out that was in a very atmospheric restaurant that I'll share with you. The restaurant specialised in oysters which we both love. I remember when we first started dating Mr NQN had never eaten an oyster before. That was fine by me as that meant more oysters for me but one day he ate one, loved it and then I shared my oysters with him from now on. He even proposed to me while holding a platter of oysters.
That evening at dinner the oysters were magical. They were served with a delicious raspberry vinaigrette and I swooned over how good they were.
"You can have the extra oyster," Mr NQN said sweetly handing over an oyster to me.
"Hang on say that again, I want to record that moment," I replied taking out my phone to film it for posterity.
I swallowed the oyster and it was perfectly briney, sweet and tangy.
"Okay I'll drive home then," I replied because earlier he had asked who was driving home. Truthfully I don't drink much and he loves to drink and that was my way of evening up the score.
"That was an oyster very well spent," he said smiling.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever have to make deals like this with your partner? And is there a food that has always featured in your life?
Reader Comments
Loading comments...Add Comment