Cooking School: The Peach Galette

Cooking School/ The Peach Galette

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 ½ Tablespoons sour cream
3 Tablespoons ice water
½ cup flour
2 Tablespoons yellow cornmeal
pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
For the Filling:
3-4 ripe peaches
1 Tablespoon honey- to toss with peaches
1 Tablespoon honey- to drizzle over galette
1Tablespoon cold unsalted butter (to be used after you assemble the galette)

Directions:

1. Stir 1 ½ Tablespoons of sour cream and 3 Tablespoons of ice water together in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Make sure your cold 4 Tablespoons of butter is cut into 4 pieces.
3. Put ½ cup flour, 2 Tablespoons cornmeal, and pinch of salt in a large bowl. Stir with a fork to mix.
4. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl, tossing them once or twice just to coat them with flour. With a large fork, work the butter into the flour, aiming for pieces of butter that range in size from breadcrumbs to small peas. The smaller pieces will make the dough tender. The larger will make it flake.
5. Sprinkle the cold sour cream mixture over the dough, 1 Tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to evenly distribute it.
After you’ve added all of the sour cream mixture, the dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed; if it’s not, add additional cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
6. With your hands, gather the curds of dough together. You’ll have a soft, malleable dough, the kind you might want to overwork—BUT DON’T!.)
7. Turn the dough out of the bowl. Press each piece of dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate while you prepare the peaches.
8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
9. Peal and section 3-4 ripe peaches. Toss with 1 Tablespoon honey and set aside.

10. Put the dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it into an 11-inch circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick. Use a regular piece of paper to measure the circle. Since the dough is soft, you’ll need to lift it now and then and toss some for flour under it and over the top.
11. Roll up the dough around your rolling pin and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.
12. Spread the peaches over the dough in a fan shape. Make it look pretty.
13. Fold the uncovered border of the dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to pleat as you lift it up and work your way around the galette. Because you’re folding a wide edge of dough onto a smaller part of the circle, it will pleat naturally—just go with it.
14. Using a pastry brush or your fingers and a bit of water, very lightly paint the edges of the crust.
15. Drizzle the entire galette with 1 Tablespoon honey.
16. Bake the galette for 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp.
17. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooking rack and let the galette rest on the sheet for 10 minutes. Slip a wide spatula or a small baking sheet under the galette and slide in onto the cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, cutting the tart with a pizza wheel or sharp knife.

*Adapted from the recipe by Julia Child in “Baking with Julia”
**This makes a small galette that serves 4 people at the most. You may want to double the recipe. Be honest with yourself.