My Little Pie

Finally!

Let's take a peek, shall we?



Ohhh. It's all in one piece, not leaking, nicely browned, not burned and so lovely. Sigh. I might need a minute.

You may have noticed that with all my cooking and baking, pies are absent. This is no mistake or coincidence. I luv pies. I luv their flakiness and endless filling possibilities. I luv how you can make single crust pies, double crust pies, lattice-top pies, tarts, quiche and turnovers.

But all I ever make are cakes, cupcakes and cookies. This is not to say that I've never made a pie. Because I have. But they're just always a fiasco that ends in disaster and then a trash can. The crust is usually my problem. And I've tried em all. Shortening. All butter. Cutting with a pastry cutter, flaking with your finger tips and whirring in a food processor. All disastrous.

But with all this yummy summery fruit, I've just been dying to make a pie...again. As I was perusing my food blogs today, I came across a take on Alice Waters's apricot galette...but with nectarines. And then I remembered the pluots I had in the fridge, and well, I was off to make a galette at 9:15PM.



Pre-oven. I took this picture in the event that this turned out to be another pie disaster.

Galettes are one of my favorite iterations of pie because it involves fruit and it's free form. (I fail at crust crimping as well.) I like their rustic look...and...that they can be made on a pizza stone. I'm sure you've just about had it with me and this 15 lb stone, but let me tell you something: this stone evenly browned and crisped my crust. My hero.

Seeing as how this is my first pie success, I've decided to post the recipe below.

Pluot Galette
(variation on Alice Waters's Apricot Galette)

Crust:

1 cup AP flour
1/2 Tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter, cubed
4 Tbsp ice water

Combine the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal. You'll have a variation of butter chunkies. I like the asymmetry...as if it adds to flakiness and texture. Slowly drizzle in the ice water and mix with a rubber spatula. Form into a ball. If the dough seems dry, and more ice water very slowly and by the 1/2 Tbsp. Flatten into a disc and chill for 3o mins.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-14 inch round. Be sure to turn the dough 90-degress to ensure even rolling. Chill for another 30 mins.

Pluot filling:

1 lb pluots, skin on and cut into wedges
2 Tbsp. ground almonds + 1 tsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. sugar, divided (or more, depending on your fruit)
1 Tbsp. AP flour
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
handful sliced, toasted almonds (for sprinkling), optional

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees. Place a pizza stone in the lower third of your oven. What? Still no pizza stone? After all I've said about it? Well, if no pizza stone is available, I would place a cookie sheet upside down in the oven instead.

Toss the ground almonds and 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar with the flour. Retrieve your pre-rolled dough from the fridge and lay on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Sprinkle the almond/flour/sugar mixture over the dough, leaving a 1.5-2" border. Cut the pluots into wedges, and arrange skin side down in the dough so that fruit wedges are nice and snuggly. A concentric circle pattern is recommended, but it's your galette. Just make sure you leave the border pluot-less. Sprinkle the fruit with 2 Tbsp. (or more...depending on the sweetness of your fruit and how sweet you like your galette).

Now for the folding and crimping. Fold over the bare dough onto the fruit, making little dough dimples as you go. Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of sugar. I think I just used a heaping tablespoon.

Place your galette (that you made on the cookie sheet for easy clean up) on your pizza stone...or ahem...the upside down cookie sheet in the oven. By now, your inverted cookie sheet should be nice and hot. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the crust is golden brown and delicious and the fruit is bubbly.

If topping with toasted almonds, lay them in a single layer and toast in the last 15 minutes of baking. It may take longer...but you want the almonds to take on a fabulous dark brown color. Monitor them closely! Fabulous dark brown turns to inedible burned mess in a matter of seconds!

Remove from oven and cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes. Very carefully use a large spatula to transfer your galette to cooling racks. This will ensure a crispy crust. Top with the almonds and cool for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!