Galette’s eh? Um. Well, i’d not made one before and wasn’t really sure what they are, but let me just summarise – a lazy pie without a full lid, a sort of semi-convertible pie! Simply lay pastry down on a baking sheet (yep, no pie dish needed) and fill with ingredients, folding over to encase and bake through – unbelievably good! This is how I made the salted caramel apple pie version, give it a go!
Salted caramel apple pie galette
Lets get the dough made first as we need to chill it. Add the sugar, salt and flour together in a bowl and mix well to combine. Add in the chilled butter and rub with your fingers and thumbs, a fork or a pastry blender if you have one until it’s been rubbed into the flour. Now we’ll add in the moisture, add the vinegar (if using) and the water in 3 batches, stirring as you go. It’ll hopefully form a nice dry solid ball, if you need to add more flour do that if it’s too sticky / more water if too dry. Just bond it together. Wrap in clingfilm and press lightly to a disc, then chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
We can make the apple filling whilst that is firming up. Get a large saucepan and add in the apples (make sure they have been peeled, cored and sliced into wedges), lemon juice, zest (if using), cinnamon and sugar. Warm and stir over a medium low heat stirring often to prevent it burning. After 8-10 minutes, the apples will have softened. Dollop in the butter for the last minute, stir to melt it in and then take off the heat to cool. You could use other fruit too if you like along with the apples, cooking times may vary if you want them softened though.
Warm the oven to 200fan/220c/425f or equivalent. Place some baking parchment on the worktop and lightly dust it with flour. Roll out the chilled dough into a large round, approx. ½ inch thick or thinner if you can, but it is delicate so be careful. Trim off any excess to get an even shape if your rolled out dough isn’t too much like a circle (although a square works too really.
Lift the dough onto your baking tray now with the baking parchment underneath – don’t fill it first, an overhand of dough is fine. Dollop the filling in the centre of the dough and spread out leaving a border of about 1.5 / 2inches. Level it out too so that the filling is spread, rather than piled high. Now work your way around the dough and lift it up and over the pie filling in sections (the video shows this well) that overlap eachother, don’t worry if it doesn’t look super pretty.
Add the egg wash by brushing the folded pastry edges, sprinkle with sugar and add more lemon zest if you wish. Bake it for 20-25 minutes, or until the galette has turned a deep golden colour. Whilst it’s baking make the caramel sauce.
In a saucepan add the salt, butter and sugar, warm it without stirring over a low heat, it’ll go amber in colour as it dissolves but keep the heat low and tip the pan and swirl the filling rather than stirring if you can. Add the cream and salt and be careful as it may bubble up at first and be angry! Stir through until a golden caramel consistent colour is achieved, allow to cool slightly and add more salt as needed.
Serve the galette warm ideally with the salted caramel and more cream and even another sprinkle of salt over the top, truly outstanding!