It seems my blog is running away from me again.  It’s probably been a week since I last posted, and I’ve got at least four things waiting to go up!  Still I suppose it is still better to have too many things to blog about than too few.

This post happens to be about a fresh peach and blueberry galette and my first solo venture into the world of pastry making.  You might think “solo venture” is an odd way to phrase it, but it’s the truth.  In the past, I’ve helped my Grandma make her famous apple pie (whose Grandma doesn’t make the most delicious apple pie you’ve ever tasted?) but I’ve always eschewed pastry making in favour of the more simple “throw everything into a bowl and stir” approach to baking.

The apple pie I made with my Grandma this summer. :)

First of all, you had to cut to the butter into the flour until it was crumbly. What happens if it was too fine? Or, god forbid, too crumbly? And then you had to make sure you didn’t overwork you dough — “you kill bread dough, but you’ve got to be gentle with pie crust” intones my Grandma sagely with over 60 years of pie making experience.  To be honest, all the fuss just didn’t seem worth it!

Until last weekend, my mother asked me to make something for our dinner guests that evening.  Remembering the basket full of Ontario peaches which where edging past ripe to overripe, I decided to dive into pastry making with a galette.

A little rough around the edges, eh?

Galettes are rustic unshaped, open faced pies.  I imagine they’re what countryfolk ate when a pie plate wasn’t available (or necessary!).  I figured it was a good starting point — relatively simple pastry recipe, I didn’t have to worry about prebaking the pie crusts, and it looked rustic so if it was a bit tough, so be it! I’d put it down to it’s country charm. ;)

I turned to Canadian living for a recipe.  The magazine is a wonderful repository of ‘Tested til Perfect’ recipes that span from the classic favourites to some pretty interesting, ethnic dishes.  However, all of them are tasty and all of them have easy to follow instructions and pretty pictures (I like pictures! ^.^)

This recipe also stood out because it called for an almond buttermilk crust.  That was intriguing and sounded more flavourful than your basic butter, flour, water pie crust.  I decided to give it a go, and o my goodness, was it fantastic!

The crust, much to my delight, was tender and had a lovely honey almond taste with out being overly sweet.  The filling was a delicate melange of flavours, as the blueberries and peaches complemented each other, while offsetting the almond in the crust.

I also made another half recipe but substituted the flour for some rice flour, so my mum could try a gluten-free version of the galette.  The crust was a bit crumblier (to be expected when using rice flour), but it was nevertheless a very tasty summer dessert!

I watched keenly as our guests dug into the galette and was rewarded with smiles and exclamations of enjoyment. This is baking at it’s best: experimenting, sharing, and enjoying.

So, without further ado, my Peach and Blueberry Galette with Almond Buttermilk Crust

Peach and Blueberry Galette with Almond Buttermilk Crust

adapted from Canadian Living

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (175 mL) ground almonds
2 tbsp (25 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup (125 mL) buttermilk (approx)
¼ tsp almond extract
Filling:
4 cups sliced pitted peeled peaches
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, thaw and drain first)
1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp (25 mL) peach or almond liqueur (I used maple and added another ¼ tsp of almond extract)
1/4 cup (50 mL) dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter, softened
Glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp (25 mL) granulated sugar

Directions:

In bowl, mix together flour, almonds, sugar and salt using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until in large crumbs. Stir almond extract into buttermilk. Drizzle buttermilk mixture over crumbs, tossing with fork until dough comes together and adding up to 1 tbsp (15 mL) more buttermilk if necessary. Shape into disc. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until chilled. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Let stand for 15 minutes at room temperature before rolling out.)

Filling:
In large bowl, toss together peaches, blueberries, sugar, flour and liqueur; set aside.

Sprinkle 20- x 15-inch (50 x 38 cm) parchment paper lightly with flour. Using floured rolling pin, roll out pastry on paper to 14-inch (35 cm) circle, leaving edge ragged. Transfer paper to pizza pan or rimless baking sheet. Trim off excess paper.

Sprinkle pastry with bread crumbs, leaving 4-inch (10 cm) border uncovered. Spoon filling over bread crumbs; dot with butter. Lift pastry up over filling to form about 10-inch (25 cm) circle, letting pastry fall naturally into folds around edge and leaving centre uncovered.

Glaze: Beat egg yolk with 1 tbsp (15 mL) water; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in bottom third of 425°F (220°C) oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C); bake until filling is bubbly and crust is golden, about 50 minutes. Let cool on rack for 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Set aside for up to 24 hours.)