The best apricot galette

Name: The best apricot galette
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 30 g toasted flaked almonds; 150 g plain flour; 75 g dark rye flour; 25 g caster sugar; 150 g butter, cold; 1 British Blacktail Free Range Medium Egg, separated; 2 tsp Demerara sugar; Double cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Galettes work with many fruits, but stone fruit such as apricot is Martha Collison's favourite, as the exposed top allows the filling to caramelise for a toffee sweetness in the fruit. See cook's tips for alternative flavours.

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Vegetarian

Serves10
CourseDessert
Prepare30 mins
Cook45 mins
Total time1 hr 15 mins
PlusPreparation time 30 minutes + chilling

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Ingredients

For the pastry

30g toasted flaked almonds
150g plain flour
75g dark rye flour
25g caster sugar
150g butter, cold
1 British Blacktail Free Range Medium Egg, separated
2 tsp Demerara sugar
Double cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

For the filling

450g apricot
50g caster sugar
1½ tbsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
¼ x 20g pack lemon thyme
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 tbsp apricot jam, warmed

Method

Start by making the pastry. Place the toasted almonds into a food processor and blitz until finely ground. Add the flours and blitz again until well combined. Add the sugar.
Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl. Using the food processor, pulse it into the flour a few times, until it’s in pea-sized pieces. Don’t pulse too finely, as you want visible streaks of butter to be able to melt in the oven for a flaky pastry.
Remove the blade from the processor. Whisk together the egg yolk with 4 tbsp cold water, then add to the mixture and stir with a roundbladed knife until the dough starts to come together. You may need to add a little more water, but don’t overdo it as you’re looking for a fairly dry dough.
Squeeze the dough between your hands to make a coherent ball, then wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Spread a large piece of baking parchment over the worktop and place the chilled pastry into the centre. Roll it out to a large circle, around 30cm diameter and around 0.5cm thick – the edges will be a little craggy. Slide the pastry on the parchment to a large flat baking sheet, cover loosely, then chill again while you prepare the filling.
For the filling, slice the apricots in ½, remove the stones and cut each ½ into 3 wedges. Put into a large mixing bowl and add the caster sugar, cornflour, vanilla paste and leaves from ½ the lemon thyme. Mix well and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 190ºC, gas mark 5. Sprinkle the centre of the pastry with ground almonds. Arrange the fruit in the centre in a single layer – create a spiral, if liked – leaving a clear border of 3cm. Try not to pile the fruit pieces on top of each other, or the resulting tart will be too wet.
Create the galette by using the parchment paper to fold the pastry edges up around the fruit and press it around the edges. Repeat all the way around, and don’t worry about it being neat – that’s the beauty of the galette! Brush the top of the pastry edge with beaten egg white and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.
Bake the galette for 40-45 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden and crisp all the way around. Brush the fruit with warmed apricot jam for a glorious shine. The filling may look runny, so allow to cool to room temperature before slicing and it will thicken and set. Serve with the remaining lemon thyme leaves and double cream or vanilla ice cream.

Cook’s tip

No food processor?

I use one to make pastry as it’s perfect for keeping pastry cool, particularly if baking in the summer. But it is possible to make it in a bowl. Replace the blitzed toasted almonds with ground almonds and freeze the butter for 30 minutes before you begin the recipe. Using a coarse grater, grate the butter into the flour mix, then continue from step 3.

Alternative flavours

Apricots are delicious but have a short season, but you can make galettes all year round using other fruit. Here are a few variations to try:

Plum & cinnamon
Replace the apricots with plums, and the thyme with 1 tsp ground cinnamon and a cinnamon stick.

Peach & raspberry
Replace the apricots with 3 ripe peaches and 100g fresh raspberries for a twist on a peach melba dessert.

Toffee orchard fruit
Replace the apricots with 600g thinly sliced apples or pears. Sprinkle 2 tbsp brown sugar onto the pastry base together with some ground almonds, then arrange them and dot the fruit with small pieces (50g total) of butter so the fruit caramelises during baking.