It is three days before Christmas, the house is full of sweets and baked goods, but I was reading The Violet Bakery Cookbook. What do I need to do? I need to make an apple galette.
I am probably not normal. Maybe crazy is the correct description. Three days before Christmas and I had already baked about ten batches of cookies and three batches of scones! Let alone the urge to experiment with sour cream raisin pie. There are reasons why I buy 25 pound bags of flour and sugar.
So I tried the apple galette recipe. Actually, I did not. There were too many hands in the kitchen and I totally screwed up the recipe. Hands. Voices. Questions. I really am used to working alone. But it still turned out wonderfully.
The first thing to do is buy really good apples. Somehow, I found very flavorful honey crisp apples that were smaller then my fist. I think that took care of everything. This seemed to disappear as a peckish snack: grab a piece as you were walking by because you were peckish. It worked very well at room temperature.
apple galette
5 smaller then fist size honey crisp apples
2 tablespoons butter
2 to 8 tablespoons sugar
2 cups unfiltered apple juice
1/2 cup sugar
Make sure the pie crust is refrigerated. It will work better.
Peel and core the apples. Save all the peels and cores. Slice into 1/8" slices. My Dad used a cheese cutter. (Really. Told you I got a lot of help. It is his kitchen.)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roll the pie crust into a 12 inch round. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Neatly stack the apples in the center of the pie crust leaving a clear edge that is one to two inches (More help with "neat." Pretty stacked picture in the book). Roll the edge to the apples. You will want a wall to hold in syrup. Dot with the 2 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle with more sugar if the apples used a very tart. For prettiness, the edge of the pie crust can be sprinkled with sugar as well.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the pastry is golden, the apples tender, and there is the potential for bubbling.
While the galette is baking, put the peels, cores, apple juice, and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for twenty minutes. Strain. Reduce over medium heat for 10 more minutes.
To serve the galette, slice and pour over with the appley caramel sauce. I just poured about 1/4 of the sauce over the galette and then sliced. The cookbook suggested ice cream too but I do not really think it was needed.
This was excellent but I will let you know because of the sweetness of the apples, I used a quarter of the sugar called for. Part of that was screwing up. I also used a quarter of the butter called for. Again, too much help. And a quarter of the sauce. Too sweet with the honey crisp apples. With something a different breed of apple, you might need more of everything.
But, lovely.