Spiked Apple Galette Recipe
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This gorgeous free-form tart is packed with sweet cinnamon-spiked apples wrapped in a buttery, flaky crust. For double the apple flavor, it gets bathed in a reduction of the apples’ juices spiked with apple brandy.
What to buy: Sanding sugar is sometimes labeled pearl sugar and can be found in gourmet grocery and cooking stores. If you can’t find it, just sub in some granulated sugar.
Game plan: The dough can be made up to a day in advance; let it sit on the counter a few minutes before rolling out.
This galette is best served warm. To reheat, place in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes; slice and serve.
For tips on the assembly of the galette, check out this video.
This recipe was featured as part of both our Neoslacker Interactive Thanksgiving menu and our Fall Ingredients recipe gallery.
For the crust:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 3/4 sticks (7 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 4 to 7 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
- 3 pounds Gala apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large dice
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
To assemble:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- Water
- 1 tablespoon coarse sanding sugar
- 1/4 cup Calvados or other apple brandy
- Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, mix the butter into the dry ingredients until it is in pea-size pieces, about 5 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks and 4 tablespoons ice water and mix just until the dough comes together. (Add an additional 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water if necessary, but do not overwork the dough or it will become tough.) Shape into a flat disk, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the filling.
For the filling:
- Combine all of the ingredients in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the apples have begun to release their juices, about 4 minutes. Simmer until the apples are tender on the outside but still firm when a knife is inserted into the middle, about 15 to 20 minutes more.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apples to a shallow dish to cool for at least 10 minutes. Set the pan with the reserved juices aside for later use.
To assemble:
- Once the dough has chilled, place it on a lightly floured surface and, using a floured rolling pin, roll it into a 16-inch circle (about 1/4 inch thick). Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Loosely fold in the edges of the pastry as needed to fit on the baking sheet, transfer to the refrigerator, and chill at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unfold any edges. Spread the cooled apples in the center of the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border.
- Fold the edges of the dough over the filling, covering about 1 inch of the apples and pleating the dough every 2 inches as you go.
- Dot the apples with the butter, then brush the pastry edge lightly with water and sprinkle with the coarse sanding sugar. Bake the galette until the pastry is golden and the apples are tender, about 40 to 45 minutes.
- While the galette is baking, return the frying pan with the apple juices to medium heat and reduce to 1/4 cup, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the Calvados, and set aside.
- Transfer the baked galette to a rack and pour the Calvados mixture over the apples. Serve warm with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
Beverage pairing: Badia di Morrona Vin Santo, Italy. Made from partially dried grapes, Vin Santo typically has wonderful toasted nut, apricot, and pear flavors with a little vanilla spice. These will complement the apples and cinnamon without stepping on them, while good acidity will lift the dessert.
Okay, I'm short an apple, but I'm making this tomorrow, baby!
Is this really the only galette recipe on this site? Just a quick suggestion for those of you who might like to try something a little more savory.
I like to cut the the sugar down to 1/4 cup and cut 1/4 cup from the flour in the dough. Then, roast a few medium sized red beets until almost done. Let them cool and slice thin rounds of them. Dress with a tbs olive oil, light drizzle of balsamic, and a little coarse ground sea salt and pepper. Layer the beet rounds in the center.
It's a good snack when you have friends over. We usually drink medium quality cab with it.
This thing is AWESOME!!!!! I made it for Thanksgiving and it was a total hit!! I'm trying making 2 smaller ones tonight, 11 inches in diameter. It works out to roughly the same surface area, but we'll see how it turns out.. Also, I used raw sugar on the crust. Looked and tasted great! It has more texture than regular sugar and I think kind of adds to the rustic charm of this dessert. And you can use it in almost anything, so don't worry about buying it "just" for this recipe. Only other suggestion is to let the crust rest but not refrigerate it after rolling it out. It made it too hard to fold the edges without it cracking. And in response to another post about having to start over if you didn't add enough water to the crust, just break the dough into small pieces with your fingers, sprinkle a little more ice water on it, mix until it comes together, and you're good to go. As long as you can still see chuncks of butter in it, it isn't overworked and should come out fine.
My boyfriend has a thing for apple pie at Thanksgiving, and I was hosting the event for the first time with a bunch of his friends. I followed the recipe, but used granulated sugar instead of spending extra on the decorating sugar for the crust.
Normally I would have substituted the Galas for a better baking apple, but I knew I'd get the extra kick of flavor at the end from the brandy, and that the Galas would hold their shape and color. I was right - the presentation was every bit as amazing as the photos, and the flavor perfect.
Let me tell you - nobody touched the pumpkin pie. This thing disappeared into six people so quickly I was stunned. I'll definitely be making this little beauty again!!
I just made my first apple galette for our Canadian Thanksgiving, which was yesterday. I didn't want to bother with the fuss of another pie since I'd already made pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, plus cookies and bars. That and everything else that needed doing, was putting me behind on my schedule.
I decided to take the easy way out and try a galette. I'm forever looking at assorted galette recipes in my books, but never bothered with them. Don't know why really as its just a round of pastry with fruit piled in the middle and baked. How much easier could it get?
The galette I made was a bit different than this recipe. Less steps which was good for me. No precooking the apples for one, thank goodness. I simply sliced my apples on my trusty old V slicer. Its super fast and the best part is all the slices are the same thickness.
I threw in a handful of dried cranberries too as apple cranberry anything is very popular with the family. Sugar amount was 2 rounded tablespoons white sugar & 3 rounded tablespoons brown sugar. Also added cinnamon and pinch of nutmeg to taste. I tossed the sugar mixture with the apples & cranberries before adding them to the pastry round even though the recipe I was using said add the sugar to the top of the fruit. I melted 2 tablespoons butter, spread some of the butter on the finished pastry edges, and the rest was poured into the middle of the apple mixture. Didn't even think of the lemon juice for some reason. Will add it next time though.
I also sprinkled my galette with vanilla sugar before baking. No spiking alas, as there would be 8 young grandchildren eating my desserts.
Happy to say my apple cranberry galette was a bit sucess! Apples were nice and tender, not mushy thank goodness, and the flavour was lovely. I wouldn't hesitate to make a galette over a pie next time. Its just too easy!
My only problem was there was not enough to go around. Everyone wanted the galette over the other desserts. Next time I'll know to make two or three!
if you have plain brandy but not Calvados, just make a reduction of brandy, apple juice and butter.
I just made this with a few changes and it was delicious! First off since Gala's aren't any good for cooking I used Fujis (which are available in farmers' markets right now), and subtracted a little of the sugar because they are so naturally sweet. I sliced the apples instead of dicing to give it a more traditional look (although I didn't arrange the slices, I just dumped them in). I didn't make the Calvados sauce, I just added the leftover apple juices in the galette and made sure the sides were well sealed. The crust was excellent! I will definitely use the recipe again for other variations.
easy if you have a nifty apple peeler, corer, slicer. Looks kinda nicer with the slices arranged nicely, too. Rasins are a nice addition.
Just made this. Excellent!! Worth every minute. To address previous comments: if you cook the syrup long enough it gets very viscous and will not make tart too watery, definitely watch the cooking time: I had to cover edge of tart with foil after 20 minutes. Do NOT mix dough too much, you want tiny clumps of butter left in to give it the flakiness you want. I mixed by hand but food processor is probably good, just don't mix too much.
This recipe sounds excellent; however, I would not dream of making a crust without a cuisinart. It reduces the level of difficulty down to medium, almost easy. Also, from a visual standpoint I will not be cutting the apples into such tiny pieces. I think cutting into eighths is fine as long as you are cooking apples first.
I learned this from the 3rd time I made this: let it completely cool, then add the final reduced apple juice/Calvados combo. It makes it less liquidy-ish. And, use turbindo (SP?) sugar if you cannot find "sanding" sugar.
I also used a box pie dough, and it turned ot fine. Its a very easy dessert this way.
My only problem was the reduction sort of burned on me, so I decide to trash it and have the galette without the drizzle. I didn't really miss it
Make this with pre-made pie crust - came out great. I sprinkled the crust with sugar and cinnamon before adding the apples (to make up for not having sugar in the pie crust). Next time, I'll make the crust from the recipe....
i plan to try this recipe. this looks a lot easier than the sliced thin and perfectly placed galette fillings i've seen in the past and is what i generally call a crostata. Cd, i've used premade pie doughs in this rustic form before and they do work ok -- though i do not have experience with this particular filling.
It takes me a while to make this (I made it again last week) & the frickin' thing disappears in a day. So, if you want, try doing the pre-made dough? Will it work? I don't know. Post your results here.
Oh, and I learned another thing: let the galette cool to room temp, then pour the final syrup on it. And Turbindo sugar works great if you can't find sanding sugar.
Can I make it with a GOOD quality premade pie dough out of the freezer section?
Thanks douglas. I baked the day before and just left it on the counter and brought it to the party the next day and it was delicious. I left the brandy raw and it works as the reduction is really syrupy sweet and the rawness of the alcohol sort of cuts through it.
Know what? Make it the day before. It gets better tasting after being on the counter overnight! And don't worry ab the Calvados tasting raw. If you're worried, maybe add the Calvados so its on the heat for a minute or so. My kids (7 & 11) loved it. We had it for breakfast the next day. Along w eggs!
Can I make this a day in advance or should I really make it the day of? Should it be refrigerated if so? Also, is the brandy not cooked at all so the alcohol is still raw? Thanks a lot, I 'm looking forward to making this.
I just finished baking this. A few tips. Well, mistakes. 1) only add 1/4 cup of the reduction on top of the baked galette. I added too much. Runny. 2) Don't under mix the dough. Or you'll have to do it again. 3) Don't forget the fricking salt in the dough the 2nd time around. 4) Don't bake for 50 minutes, ony 40-45 minutes. 5) To prevent issues 1-4 from occuring, don't take nips of the Calvados while you're waiting. Otherwise, it smells good despite that it's a tad overdone.