Peach Galettes with Rye Pastry

Last weekend was ridiculously hot. The temperature on Saturday was rapidly approaching 105º. We went to the farmers' market, but the heat radiating off the pavement was too much that we decided to go to the grocery store instead. That was a great decision because they had the most beautiful and fragrant strawberries I've seen all year. For the most part, I've stopped buying strawberries at the grocery store because they are usually a disappointment. We missed out on strawberry picking last weekend when we were on vacation in Buffalo, New York. I figured that meant I wouldn't be baking anything with strawberries this year.

That made me sad because I wanted to make a strawberry galette with the rye pastry from Apt 2B Baking Co.'s Strawberry Rye Galettes and the filling from the Balsamic Strawberry Galette from Honey and Jam that I made last year. Thankfully, these strawberries were just what I needed to make said pastries. They were delicious and I wholeheartedly recommend you try them next time you go strawberry picking! To do that, make the pastry recipe that follows and use this recipe for the filling (keep everything the same but use about 2 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries. Also, you can reduce just the liquid coming off of the berries without adding additional honey and balsamic).

The strawberry galettes, especially the pastry, got such high ratings from C and our roommate that I knew I knew I would be making them again. I don't even like crust and I loved these! With the 4th of July coming up, I was throwing around ideas for what to make for a potluck. Because we're living in the south, I was thinking peach cobbler. Peach cobbler isn't the most portable dessert, so I thought I'd try peach galettes using the rye pastry from before and a cinnamon and peach filling. That's just what I did.

Objective
Make peach galettes with rye pastry adapted from Apt 2B Baking Co. and a filling based on Fork Knife Swoon's Rustic Peach Galettes (with some additions from Honey and Jam).

Materials
For the pastry:
4.3 oz. rye flour
4.3 oz. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
6 oz. unsalted butter (12 tablespoons), cold and cut into small cubes
4 oz. water, ice cold (1/2 cup) **you will not add all of this water**
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

For the peach filling:
2 pounds peaches (8-9 small peaches)
1-2 tbsp. lemon juice (optional--omit if your peaches aren't very sweet)
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. almond flour (alternatively: finely chop or process whole almonds)
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten

Methods
To make the pastry: Add the apple cider vinegar to 4 oz. cold water with a couple of ice cubes and set aside. Whisk together the rye flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt and black pepper. Add the cubes of cold butter to the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, squish/rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles pea-sized clumps. Remove the ice cubes from the water. While stirring the butter-flour mixture with a wooden spoon, slowly pour in water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the dough begins to come together. For me, this was only 2 oz. of water and I made mine a lot wetter than I should have (and I preferred it that way because it was easier to roll. I just added a little more flour between layers at the folding steps). Gather the dough together in a ball and pat out to a rectangle (give or take 2" thick). Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour. You can cheat and use the freezer, but watch it carefully to make sure it only chills and doesn't freeze. If you do this make sure to flip the dough over halfway through. Once the dough is chilled, move it to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a 1" thick rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter, then roll back out to a 1" thick rectangle. Turn the dough 90º, and repeat the folding and rolling process twice more. Wrap the dough in saran wrap and chill again for 2 hours or more. Overnight is fine.

To make the peach filling: Slice the peaches into slices of relatively uniform width (I left the skins on for color, but if you prefer, you can peel them first). In a large bowl, gently mix the peach slices with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice/vanilla (if you decide to add them). Set aside for 30-60 minutes. At some point, gently move the mixture to a strainer (placed over a bowl or in the sink) and allow the juices to drain. This will help prevent the dough from becoming soggy. In a small bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, and granulated sugar and set aside.

To make the galettes: Preheat the oven to 375º. Line a baking sheet (make sure it has sides) with parchment paper and set aside. Remove the prepared dough from the fridge and cut it into squares (6-10 depending on how many galettes you want and how big you want them). On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out to a 1/8" thick square (or circle if you're more skilled with a rolling pin than I am). Sprinkle 1/2-3/4 tsp. of the flour-sugar mixture into the center of the square, leaving a 3/4"-1" border on each side. Arrange peach slices in a single but overlapping layer within the borders of the pastry (I used about one small peach worth of slices per galette). Fold the top edge down over the filling and the bottom edge up over the filling, overlapping the peaches, but not totally covering the peaches (see the picture below). Repeat with the side edges, then press the corners with your thumbs to seal the dough. Gently move the galette to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the other galettes. Only place 6 galettes per baking sheet. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg. You can sprinkle it with sugar, but surprisingly, it looks prettier without it. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the juices from the fruit are bubbling. Move the galettes to a wire rack to cool. These are best eaten fresh or on day two.

Results
The pastry is delicious. The filling is not very peachy or sweet, but that's because these weren't the peachiest peaches we had. The tarts were very beautiful with a golden brown pastry and the orange and yellow peach skins and fruit.

Discussion and Future Directions
To be fair, the strawberry galettes really out-shined the peach galettes. Thankfully, most people only got to try the peach galettes, so they don't know that they missed! I think the quality of the fruit is what makes or breaks fruit desserts, especially in tarts, crostatas, and galettes. In a pie, you can hide the fruit with enough sugar and a delicious crust. In a dessert like this, the pastry can break the dessert but it can't make the dessert. I think this is a good recipe to set aside for a time when you get a really great batch of fruit. It's a recipe to keep in the back of your mind, but not one to plan on making until you have in your possession the most delicious fruit around.

I'm envisioning rhubarb galettes and cherry galettes. Maybe I could even bake the pastry empty and fill it with custard and fresh blueberries. Yes, that sounds delicious! I really love this pastry recipe. To be honest, I was skeptical of adding pepper to pastry dough the first time I did it, but it's a great idea. And the rye flour! The rye adds such a nice flavor. Most pie crusts I've made are flavorless or take on a fatty flavor. This one is just lightly flavored and delicate. I think I might even try it for a pie the next time I make pie. That will probably be a pumpkin pie over Thanksgiving because I really don't see why I would make a pie when these are so cute and easy. It might not seem easy to you, but I really think it's significantly easier than a pie. The pie crust is always my pitfall--sometimes it's the rolling, sometimes the blind-baking, or even the burnt edges after using a pie shield. I just really hate making pies. But galettes on the other hand, galettes I will happily make again!

Supplementary Materials