White Peach, Pecan, and Muscovado Galette

Have you seen the July issue of Bon Appetit? It has a killer photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott of a luscious bluebery galette with a melty scoop of ice cream on top, a perfect July cover if you ask me. There was even a little web exclusive that explained how they chose the perfect vanilla ice cream for the cover, Breyer's Vanilla Bean if you were wondering. 

It's been a long time since I've baked anything from Bon Appetit, but that cover looked so good (and the crust looked a little unusual) so I flipped through the mag and discovered it was full of ground pecans, then later realized that the same info was on the cover too (doh!). Pun...intended. The dough came together easily, although it was very delicate to work with and tore a bit as I was moving it around my cutting board and on to the baking sheet, but good news - it patched well, and it doesn't really matter if your dough isn't perfect when you are making a galette.

Instead of the blueberries, I used a couple of super ripe white peaches and a handful of white currants I had around (the currants are totally optional, but provided a nice tart burst). The fruit was super sweet and juicy so I sprinkled the dough with about a tablespoon of flour and tablespoon of muscovado sugar, then sprinkled another tablespoon or so of sugar on top, brushed the dough with egg wash, and baked it until it was golden and juicy.

It was what I like to call an easy summer dessert situation.

White Peach, Pecan, and Muscovado Tart

adapted from Bon Appetit's July 2015 issue

The original recipe calls for bit of cinnamon in the crust (1/4 teaspoon) and a blueberry filling which I imagine is also quite delicious. I used light muscovado sugar to sweeten this tart, I like India Tree, but light brown or granulated sugar will work as well. Check out the link above for the original blueberry filling.

NOTE 9/2/2015: The original recipe calls for 4 tablespoons of water to be added to the dough, but you may need a little less. Start with 2 tablespoons, then add more bit by bit until the dough easily sticks together when squeezed. 

Crust

1/2 cup pecans

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Filling

4 medium white peaches

small handful white currants (optional)

3 tablespoons muscovado sugar, or more to taste

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

pinch salt

1/2 lemon

1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash

turbinado sugar, to finish

Preheat oven to 350°. Toast pecans on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until fragrant and slightly darkened, 10–15 minutes; let cool. Pulse the pecans in a food processor until they are coarse meal. Add flour, sugar, salt,  and pulse combine. Add butter and pulse until the butter is mostly worked into the dough, with a couple of pea-sized pieces remaining. 

Transfer the dough to a large bowl and drizzle with 4 tablespoons ice water (see note above) and mix gently, adding another tablespoonful of water if needed, just until mixture comes together. Gently pat dough into a 6"-diameter disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.

To assemble and bake: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pit and slice the peaches into 1/4-inch slices. Roll the dough out to a roughly 12-inch circle, 1/8-1/4-inch thick and transfer it to the baking sheet. Sprinkle the flour and one tablespoon of the sugar over the top. Arrange the peach slices on top of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the currants over the top, along with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt. Squeeze the lemon over the top. Fold the edges of the dough over the fruit and chill the galette until the dough is firm, about 15 minutes. 

Brush the chilled dough with egg wash, sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and bake the galette until deep golden brown 30-40 minutes.

Blackberry Rhubarb Pie and a video!

I'm so excited to be sharing a new video with you today! Get a sneak peek into my kitchen, and see how I made this delicious blackberry rhubarb pie (including a mini lattice-weaving tutorial) in the video below. 

video by Pete Lockhart

Between writing my book, blog, and my general love for fruit in buttery crust, I have made so many fruit pies over the last couple of years, and they have become my favorite thing to bake. You may have noticed this on Instagram, it's practically all-pie-all-the-time over there. This pie highlights blackberries and rhubarb, which is a combination I first used during my annual summertime visit to see my family in Seattle a few years ago.

It was the August after my brother’s twin daughters were born, and his family had just moved into a new house. Late summer is wild blackberry season in the Pacific Northwest, and my dad and I had picked blackberries from his favorite secret spot earlier that day so we had a pile of freshly picked berries sitting on the counter just waiting to be used. My parents’ rhubarb plant had a few last stalks that were looking wilty from the heat so I picked those too, then combined them with the blackberries and made a crisp covered with buttery streusel. 

We took the crisp to my brother’s new house, then after the babies were in bed we ate bowls of it warm, topped with Earl Grey Ice Cream from Molly Moon’s which is just down the street from my mom’s shop in Wallingford. The combination was perfectly buttery, sweet, and tart with little crunchy bursts of seeds from the blackberries and soft silky pieces of rhubarb. 

This pie combines those same flavors, along with a wholesome rye crust for a new take on a flavor combination that I just love. 

Blackberry Rhubarb Pie

makes one 9-inch pie

Crust

1 1/3 cups rye flour

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

6-8 tablespoons ice water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Filling

1 pound rhubarb stalks

1 1/2 pounds blackberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 lemon, zest and juice

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from the pod

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to cut in half of the butter until it is the size of peas, then cut in the other half until it is the size lima beans. Some of the butter will be completely worked into the flour, but you should have lots of visible pieces of butter in the dough too.

Combine the water and apple cider vinegar in a measuring cup. Make a well in the flour/butter mixture and slowly stream about 6 tablespoons of water into the dough while mixing gently. If the dough seems very dry, add more water a couple of teaspoons at a time. You have added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it together easily without it falling apart. Press the dough together, then split it in half, form into discs and wrap each disc in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour before using, or overnight. I prefer an overnight rest if possible

When you're ready to make the filling and assemble the pie, preheat the oven to 400º F. In a large bowl combine the sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla bean seeds. Use your fingers to rub the zest and seeds into the sugar until well combined and fragrant. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, and salt.

Cut the rhubarb into 1-inch pieces and add it to the bowl. Add the blackberries and lemon juice, but don't stir quite yet.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough into a roughly 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick and place it into a 9-inch pie pan. Place in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the pie. Roll out the other piece of dough into a roughly 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick, and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill that too.

Stir the filling ingredients together, then fill the pie shell and top with the second crust.

Trim the edges so they are even, then crimp them together. Alternately, cut the second crust into 1 1/2 to 2-inch strips and weave a lattice top.

Slide the whole pie into the fridge or freezer for about 15 minutes or until the crust is very firm. When you are ready to bake, carefully and gently brush the top of the pie with a beaten egg and sprinkle with a healthy dose of coarse sugar.

Put the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the crust is deep golden brown and the juices bubble. Cool the pie before slicing.