Apple galettes with flaky pastry

Apple galettes are circles of flaky pastry with sliced apples in the centre and the edge of pastry folded up to form individual tarts. They are delicious served hot with ice cream, cream or custard or can be enjoyed cold with a cup of tea or coffee. The ingredients in this apple galette recipe are sufficient to make five individual galettes made using 15cm pastry circles, but you can make them whatever size you wish, or even make one single larger galette.

If you like sweet pastries you may also like to try cherry and almond Bakewell tart, tarte au citron or plum and raspberry crumble tart.

Ingredients

For the flaky pastry

Use flaky pastry made with 165g flour. You can make the pastry the traditional way but here I used Delia's recipe for quick flaky pastry, which makes a delicious and light flaky pastry with very little time and effort. I usually omit the salt but you can add a pinch of salt if you prefer. If you don't feel like making pastry you could of course use ready made pastry instead.

• 165g flour
• 113g butter
• Sufficient water to bind the pastry

For the filling

• 2 to 3 apples such as Gala, Pink Lady, Golden Delicious or Granny Smith
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 5g caster sugar

To bake

• Sufficient milk to glaze the pastry
• A little extra sugar to sprinkle onto the pastry

Before starting this recipe

Weigh 113g butter, wrap in foil and place in the freezer about 45 minutes before starting to prepare the pastry.

Preheat the oven to 190^oC, 375^oF, gas mark 5.

How to prepare

To prepare the pastry

Weigh the flour and sift into a large bowl. Grate the partly frozen butter onto the flour.

Use a knife to mix the grated butter with the flour until all the butter is coated with flour.

Add water a little at a time, stirring with the knife, until you are able to combine the dough into a ball. You will probably only need a few tablespoons of water so be careful not to add too much water at a time.

Cover the bowl of pastry dough and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

To prepare the filling

You are likely to need between 2 and 3 apples depending on size of the apples, how they are cut and how much apple you place in each galette. It is a good idea to start by slicing two apples and only prepare the third apple if needed.

Core the apples, cut into 2 mm thick slices with the peel still on and place in a medium sized bowl. Add the lemon juice and turn the slices around to make sure that the juice covers all the surfaces of the apple slices to prevent them turning brown. Stir in the caster sugar.

To assemble the apple galettes

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured board to a thickness of around 3 mm. Cut five circles 15cm in diameter, although you could make them a different size if you prefer. Place the circles on a baking sheet lined with non-stick paper or parchment. Depending on the size of your oven and baking tray/s you may need to bake in more than one batch.

Arrange the slices of apple, overlapping each other, in the centre of each pastry circle leaving a margin of about 1cm to 2cm at the edge. The apple slices can be arranged either regularly or randomly depending on your preference.

Fold the edge of the pastry up over the edge of the sliced apples, forming pleats to take in the excess pastry. Dab a drop of water where the pastry overlaps and press into place to help seal the pleats.

Brush the exposed parts of the pastry with a little milk and sprinkle some sugar over the top of the pastry.

To bake

Bake in the centre of the oven at 190^oC, 375^oF, gas mark 5 for around 20 minutes or until the pastry is a light golden colour. Check regularly to make sure they do not overcook and turn the tray around part way through the cooking time so that they cook evenly.

The apple galettes are delicious served hot with ice cream, cream or custard or can be enjoyed cold.

If you do not plan to serve them straight way, leave to cool for around 10 minutes on the baking tray and then transfer to a wire rack.

Tips

1. Select a type of apple which will hold its shape when cooked such as Gala, Pink Lady, Golden Delicious or Granny Smith. Baking apples such as Bradley's tend to loose their shape when cooked particularly if they are cut into small pieces.
2. The pastry can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to a couple of days. The uncooked pastry can also be frozen.
3. If you make larger or smaller galettes you may need to adjust the cooking time.
4. Store the apple tartlets in an airtight tin. They are best enjoyed the day they are made or the following day.
5. Why not make an extra batch of flaky pastry and make some Eccles cakes?

Other sweet pastries