Apricot Galette with Buttery Ground Almond Crust Recipe

“Ah, if I can’t eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die,” moans Rapunzel’s mother.

An expectant woman and her food cravings are the catalysts for the story of Rapunzel. In the fairy tale, the soon-to-be mother fixates on luscious leafy greens growing next door. Pained to see her pine, her husband sneaks into their neighbor’s garden and steals the rampion.

I understand his rash act. When I was expecting, I craved soft summer fruit. If I’d been unable to buy it nearby at Westchester Greenhouse farm stand, my cravings might have driven my husband to criminality.

Two of my children were summer babies. The weather was oppressively hot and humid. An extra 20 pounds of combined baby and water weight seemed lodged under my ribs, making the thought of eating repellent. Except for summer fruit.



I had insane cravings for soft yellow, rose and purple plums. Fragrant yellow and white peaches. Rosy flushed apricots. I recall trawling the aisles at the farm stand, buying far more fruit than the average family could consume in a week.

The kindly farm stand workers let me wash pints of fruit in their deep, industrial zinc sinks. I’d carry the haul to our minivan. The vehicle’s hot, stale air felt stifling. But before driving off with open windows, I took a few minutes to arrange the produce bags. I needed easy access while driving.

Then I’d meander home, stuffing my face with perfumed, juicy summer fruit.

Today I still love summer fruit. And I still buy too much of it. Summer temperatures make it spoil fast, so I’ll often stew about-to-turn fruit or make it the base of a quick cobbler.



For a slightly more elegant—but almost as easy to prepare—dessert, I love this Apricot Galette with Buttery Ground Almond Crust.



Galettes give you fruit pies’ best tastes and textures—crisp buttery crust, yielding syrupy fruit—with far less fuss.

I rarely used hydrogenated vegetable fat, but make exception for pie crusts. I find a combination of shortening and butter delivers the perfect flavor-to-flakiness ratio. As you might guess, this crust also incorporates almond flour and a few drops of almond extract.



The almondy crust is delicious with apricots and peaches. But you can also make galette with:

• Plums
• Blueberries, raspberries or blackberries
• Strawberries and rhuharb
• Cherries
• Figs

Apricot Galette with Buttery Ground Almond Crust

Filling
3 cups pitted apricots
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon water

Crust
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup finely ground almonds or almond flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
¼ cup shortening
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon Demerara or raw brown sugar crystals
2-4 tablespoons ice water

1. In a medium saucepan, combine apricots, ¼ cup sugar and water. Cover pan and set over medium-low flame. Bring fruit to simmer. Lower flame. Stirring occasionally and watching to make sure it doesn’t burn, let fruit simmer until softened—about five minutes. Remove lid and let fruit cool slightly.
2. In the meantime, make the crust: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, almond flour, salt and sugar, blending well.
4. Using a pastry cutter, whisk or your fingers, add butter, shortening and almond extract, blending until mixture is coarse and crumbly.
5. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of ice water over flour mixture, blending swiftly with a whisk. Working quickly and handling dough as little as possible, add more ice water as needed to form a dough that just holds together when pressed into a ball.
6. Put the ball of dough on a sheet of wax paper. Put a second sheet of wax paper over the dough and press down on the mound with your hands to flatten the ball.
7. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a circular shape about ¼” thick.
8. Remove the top sheet of wax paper and cover the rolled out dough with a piece of parchment paper.
9. Carefully roll the parchment and wax paper-sandwiched dough over your rolling pin.
10. On a cookie or jelly roll sheet, unroll the sandwiched dough, parchment side down.
11. Carefully remove the sheet of wax paper. Your dough may look a little humped and misshapen. Not to worry: Straighten it out and repair any cracks by pressing dough together.
12. Place a dinner plate on the dough, then trace and cut a circle. Remove excess crust.
13. Using a slotted spoon, scoop slightly cooled apricots into the center of the dough circle.
14. Use a spatula to loosen edges of dough. Fold the dough toward the center of the circle to encase the fruit, pressing dough edges together to seal.
15. Pour remaining fruit syrup over fruit.
16. Sprinkle the galette with Demerara sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until fruit is bubbly and crust golden at the edges.
17. Cool slightly and serve. You may want to add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves eight.