Summer Fruit Galette

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     It's summer.  This seems obvious, I know, and yet right under our noses the sun slinks away a little earlier each night, a reminder that the seemingly endless abundance of the season wanes gracefully, inconspicuously yielding to its successor, for the time being.  This is the half of the year that the farmers market is outdoors, the stands are plentiful with produce, and if I get there early enough, I can snag some squash blossoms before they sell out (which I've only managed to do once so far).  Each week one fruit seems to be omnipresent and at its peak only to disappear the following week, with another beaming jewel in its stead.  This was the case with the sweet cherries, which I had hoped to procure a second week in a row only to be handed a different gift in the form of these succulent, sweet-tart plums to sample.  I found myself handing over the money to buy them before ever even taking a bite.  The vendor was reminiscent of Demeter as she held out her open palms, laden with plums, for passersby to pluck and tuck into immediately, silent and smiling as they surveyed the plethora of produce with eyes like saucers.  The message seemed to be that now is the time to enjoy, ingenuously, that which is simultaneously ripe and fleeting. 
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     ​Aside from simply enjoying these summer fruits out of hand, I often find myself baking them in a galette, usually on top of frangipane, and preferably with a dollop of whipped cream when all is said and done.  To date, my favorite dough for this preparation is from Tartine.  One recipe of their Flaky Tart Dough yields two discs of dough, one of which I use right away and the other of which I freeze to use later either for another galette, quiche, or pot pie.  
     Consider the galette a blank canvas on which to paint the fruitful manifestations of each season.  The dough is free-form and forgiving.  Despite any aesthetic concerns I place it in the oven with, some alchemy transpires within, as the galette always emerges a Maillard marvel, jaw-dropping in its perfect simplicity.  One of these days I intend to make a savory version with caramelized onions and gruyere.  So go to your farmers market and grab whatever inspires you in the moment, hopefully it's like mine, which I overheard one young fellow describe by saying "This farmers market is lit."  Be sure to revel in the freshness of this season's bounty, and take the time to savor and reflect on how precious everything is in the stillness of a moment, as those moments inevitably crescendo towards change.    

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Summer Fruit Galette 
Yield:  dough and frangipane for two galettes, fruit filling for one

Ingredients:
Dough (Adapted from Tartine)

• 1 pound all purpose flour 
• 10 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, cut into one inch cubes, keep cold 
• 2/3 cup water, ice cold
• 1 teaspoon salt

Frangipane (Adapted from David Lebovitz's Galette de Rois)

• 1 cup almond meal
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• zest and juice from one orange
• a pinch of salt
• 3 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, cut into one inch cubes, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fruit Filling

• 1 quart of fresh fruit
• granulated sugar or honey (optional)

Finishing Touches Before Baking

• egg wash (one egg whisked with one Tablespoon heavy cream)
• granulated sugar for sprinkling on dough

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Method:
For the Dough

1. ​​Combine the flour and the salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Break up the very cold cubed butter over top of the flour and place the lid back atop the food processor.  Pulse to combine the mixture until large pea-sized pieces form.  
2. Remove the lid and pour the ice cold water over top of the flour-butter mixture.  Replace the lid and pulse until a mass of dough forms into a ball.  
3. Turn the dough out from the food processor onto a floured work surface.  Lightly sprinkle flour over the ball of dough.  Using a bench scraper, portion the dough in two.  Pat/press portioned dough into two discs with a thickness of about one inch.  Double wrap each disc with plastic wrap.  
4. Chill the dough until it's firm, a minimum of thirty minutes, or overnight if you're planning ahead.  If you're going to freeze one portion of the dough and are not planning on using it within a week, slide the wrapped disc into a freezer bag and label and date it with a Sharpie before placing it in hibernation.  (The bag will help protect the dough and the labeling will help you identify it later on as, if you're like me, you occasionally rummage through the hinterland of your freezer as though it's a time capsule wondering what the heck all you have in there.)
5. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.  Lightly dust your work surface with flour.  Take the dough out of the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and place on the floured work surface.  Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a circle with a thickness of roughly 1/8 inch.  Transfer the dough to the lined pan and place the pan in the refrigerator until you're ready to fill it.  

​Make the Frangipane

1. ​Combine the almond meal, sugar, orange zest, and salt in a mixing bowl.  
2. Use a wooden spoon or the back of a fork to work the butter and dry ingredients together.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir until you no longer see any streaks of egg white.  Add the orange juice and extracts, stir to combine.  At this point the frangipane can be covered with plastic wrap and held in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill and bake the galette.  If you aren't planning on making use of the frangipane in the next few days, portion half of it into a freezer bag and by all means feel free to label and date it before tucking it away for a dark, cold slumber, perhaps right next to the other half of galette dough.  

Prepare the Fruit Filling

1. Wash and pick over your fruit for any leaves or stems, and remove the pits, if using stone fruit.  At this point let your inclinations take over, and you can decide how to proceed with the fruit you are using.  Maybe you have raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries and you want to pile them into the galette whole?  Maybe you want to proceed as I did with the plums and slice each pitted half into quarters?  If you have large strawberries you may also want to quarter or slice them.  
2. Taste the fruit you are using, if you haven't done so already.  Ascertain how sweet it is on its own, and consider how sweet you'd like your finished product to be.  Depending on how you plan to arrange the fruit in the galette, you may want to add a little honey or sugar to it at this point, if you are going to pile the filling all into the galette.  If you plan to take a slightly more OCD route and neatly arrange your prepared fruit in the galette then hold off on the additional sweetening until just before baking.   

Assemble the Galette

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle position. 
2. Pull the dough and frangipane out of the refrigerator, and have your prepared fruit, egg wash, and any additional sweetener ready, including sugar for sprinkling on the dough just before baking.  
3. Use a rubber spatula or offset palette knife to stir the frangipane and check that it has a spreadable consistency.  (If it is stiff and you think it might tear the dough as you try to spread it, then return the dough to the refrigerator to keep cold while you let the frangipane sit out at room temperature for ten minutes or so, just long enough to become pliable.)  
4. Place half of the frangipane (if you haven't already frozen the other half) in the center of the circle of dough.  Use a rubber spatula or offset palette knife to spread the frangipane outward to within four or five inches of the edge of the dough.  You'll want to leave this space to fold over the filling.  
5. Top the frangipane with the fruit filling either by tumbling it all out of a bowl or by neatly arranging it in concentric circles on top.  You do you.  
6. Use a bench scraper or a paring knife to slice through the border of dough in four to five inch sections, creating flaps of dough.  Gather each flap up over the filling, one at a time, each overlapping the one before it.  If there are any large gaps towards the base of the galette, gently press the dough together so that your filling doesn't ooze out while baking.  
7. Brush the dough with the egg wash (save whatever you don't use and turn it into a scrambled egg for breakfast tomorrow).  Sprinkle sugar all over the dough, and atop the fruit, if you're so inclined.  If using honey, drizzle just over the visible fruit.  
8. Bake the galette until the crust is golden brown, the frangipane has puffed up, and whatever juice the fruit has exuded is bubbling.  These galettes are typically done in forty-five to fifty minutes.  Rotate the pan halfway through baking.  
9. The galette can be served hot, or allowed to cool on a wire rack to serve later at room temperature.  

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