A Classic Dessert Worthy of a Spot in Anyone's Repertoire
This galette is a reflection of my palette. The dish is naturally sweet from the the apples, but has a tangy kick from the lemon's juice and floral undertones from its zest. The crust is perfectly buttery, crunchy, delicate, and flaky throughout, and its special touch comes from the sesame seeds sprinkled on the exposed dough, as they add a unique level of savoriness that completes the whole dish.
While I was shooting this recipe, I shared a couple of behind the scenes on my Instagram stories. Immediately, I got reactions from many of my friends saying that Apple Galette was one of their favorite desserts. I mean, who doesn't like a well-made, buttery, tangy, spiced, flaky Apple Galette. The answer is no one, obviously.
No story this time, but this recipe is very easy and fun to make on your own, or with friends. When you bake it, you will have your own story to tell.
Ingredients
For the dough:
For the filling:
3 medium Granny Smith apples cored, peeled, and sliced
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp of ground/freshly grated nutmeg
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Brown sugar for sprinkling
1 egg for egg wash (leftover egg whites work too if you have them already)
Sesame seeds for sprinkling
Method
STEP 1. In a large bowl, add sliced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice and zest. Toss to mix together until all apple slices are coated with the spice and lemon mixture.
STEP 2. Transfer your pie dough from the fridge into your work surface and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Then, roll out to about 0.5 cm thick on top of a parchment paper.
STEP 3. Preheat a baking sheet along with your oven to 190° C/ 375° F. In the meantime, place apple filling in the middle of the dough.
STEP 4. Sprinkle some light brown sugar on top of the apple filling.
STEP 5. Fold the edges of the dough towards the center of the galette, encasing the apple filling.
STEP 6. Beat up an egg aggressively and gently brush along the exposed dough. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and light brown sugar.
STEP 7. Take out the preheated baking sheet from the oven and carefully transfer your galette on top of it, using the parchment paper to lift up the galette. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour (with the parchment paper and all), until the crust is golden brown.
Notes on the Recipe:
I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but it is important to work fast here, specially if you live in a tropical climate. If the butter in the dough starts to melt, transfer your dough back into the fridge for a couple of minutes. If your dough is not relatively cold when you put it in the oven, you will loose some of its characteristic flakiness.
Preheating the baking sheet in the oven is a very important step. When baking pies or tarts, you would normally blind bake (pre-bake the dough without filling) before adding the filling and baking again. This will allow the dough to cook completely. For galettes, since there is no pie dish or tart mold, and you have to encase your filling with the dough, blind baking is not an option. Therefore, to avoid soggy bottoms and uncooked dough, the preheated baking sheet will help to thoroughly bake the bottom of the galette.
The size of the apples is (kind of) up to you. I would not slice them too thin because your risk them cooking too much and getting too soft, and too thick would just be uncomfortable to eat. I would recommend slicing the apples to a medium thickness.