(Recipe can be found on Giada de Laurentiis’ site here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
This Apple Galette with Goat Cheese, Sour Cherry, and Almond Topping comes together with the following items: Dried Tart Cherries, Maple Syrup, Ground Cardamom, Ground Cinnamon, Sugar, Cornstarch (or Arrowroot), 1 1/2 pounds of Braeburn Apples, 1 sheet of Puff Pastry, 1 Egg, 2 tablespoons of Butter, 4 ounces of Goat Cheese, Sliced Almonds, 1 Lemon, and Salt.
I started off by pre-heating my oven to 375 degrees. Then I whisked 1 egg and set it aside.
Then toast your almonds. Just heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 1/3 cup of almonds to a dry skillet. The oils from the almonds will help toast them.
Stir the almonds regularly and continue until they start to brown a little and get toasted. Once you can start smelling the almonds, it’s a good sign you’re very close.
Using my hand-held juicer I juiced one lemon. You’ll need at least 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. One tip is that I always roll my lemon to help release the juices.
I wait to do the apples until I’m ready for them so that they don’t turn brown. All you do is use a vegetable peeler and peel the apples. I used 4 but if the apples are really large, you may need 3 apples instead. Then either use an apple corer or just cut around the core with a sharp knife. Then cut the apples into about 1/2-inch wedges.
Now it’s time to cook. Begin by melting 2 tablespoons of butter.
Then add the apples and 1/8 teaspoon of salt to the butter. Stir occasionally over medium high heat for 10 minutes.
I don’t like rushing to get stuff done, so I went ahead and put together the sugar and spice mixture. In a small bowl add 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each of cardamom, cinnamon, and arrowroot/cornstarch.
Then whisk away until the cornstarch is fully incorporated.
You want your apples to be tender, and after about 10 minutes, they should be good.
Then add the teaspoon of lemon juice and the sugar and spice mixture.
Then stir everything up and let the apples come to lukewarm temperature so they are easy to handle.
Then I floured my Silpat and work surface lightly.
Flour both sides of the puff pastry sheet lightly and use a rolling pin to roll it into a large square that is at least 12 inches across.
Then cut a 12-inch circle in diameter. Yeah it’s not perfect, people…the word for the week is “rustic.” And then brush the entire surface with the egg wash.
Oooh, pretty. Starting with a 2-inch border, lay out the outside layer of apples and then fill in with the apples in the center. It’s okay if they overlap as you’ll see above.
Slide the Silpat onto a cookie sheet. Then fold over the edges as you’ll see here. Then brush more of the egg wash all over the outside of the pastry. This helps it get nice and brown. Bake the galette for about 30-35 minutes.
While the galette bakes, you can start on the topping. Just add the toasted almonds, 1/3 cup of dried tart cherries, 4 ounces of crumbled goat cheese (yum!) and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.
Then mix it up so you still have chunks of goat cheese. Then I covered it and put it into the fridge until I needed it.
Now that’s gorgeous! Here’s the galette with really lovely golden brown edges. Secretly I thought I might have rolled the dough out too thin, but that is the beauty of puff pastry. All the layers of buttery goodness puff up like crazy.
Add the topping to the galette and bake in the oven for another 10 minutes. You want the cheese on the topping to start to get golden brown.
Here it is fresh out of the oven. Let the galette cool for 20 minutes, and serve within 2 hours of baking so it’s nice and warm. I tell you this was fabulous, not too sweet thanks to the cherries and goat cheese, and the almonds add a nice crunch. It smelled so good, and I couldn’t wait to dive in! Happy baking!!
- Tart:
- 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter
- 3 Braeburn apples (1 ½ pounds), peeled, halved, cored, halves cut into 6 ½-inch wedges
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon arrowroot
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 frozen puff pastry sheet (½ of 17.3-ounce package; such as Aussie Bakery brand from Whole Foods or Trader Joes brand), thawed
- 1 large egg, beaten to blend in small bowl
- Topping:
- 1 4-ounce package chilled soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled into ⅓- to ½-inch chunks
- ⅓ cup tart dried cherries (such as Montmorency from Trader Joe’s)
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Tart:
- Position rack in center and preheat oven to 375°F.
- Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples; sprinkle with salt. Sauté until almost tender, tossing occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove skillet from the heat.
- Whisk sugar, spices, and cornstarch in a small bowl until no cornstarch lumps remain. Sprinkle spiced sugar and lemon juice over apples in skillet; toss to blend. Cool to lukewarm.
- Place a large sheet of parchment paper on work surface. Unfold pastry sheet on parchment; sprinkle both sides lightly with flour. Roll out pastry to 12-inch square, lifting, turning, and sprinkling with more flour to keep from sticking. Cut off corners (with a rounded cut), making a 12- inch-diameter pastry round.
- Brush pastry all over with some beaten egg. Starting 2-inches in from edge (to leave wide border), arrange apple wedges close together in a circle on the pastry. Arrange remaining apples in a smaller circle in center (ends may overlap first ring of apples). Fold pastry border partially over filling, pleating pastry in loose folds. Brush folded up pastry border with some beaten egg.
- Slide galette with parchment onto heavy baking sheet. Scrape juices from skillet over apples. Bake galette until pastry edge is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Topping:
- Toss goat cheese, cherries, almonds, and maple syrup in a medium bowl until evenly distributed (cheese should remain in distinct pieces). Chill until ready to use.
- Remove tart from oven. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Return galette to oven. Bake 10 minutes until the topping begins to brown. Cool 20 minutes to serve warm or up to 2 hours to serve at room temperature.
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