• Galette aux Pommes et Poires •
Apple and Pear Galette is a rustic yet elegant French dessert that features a lightly spiced filling of tart apples and sweet pears embraced by a flaky crust.
Apples! Apples everywhere! There are many apple orchards around here so, during the Fall, there is always a glut of crisp apples of all varieties. They’re at their cheapest and freshest now, so I love thinking of new ways to use them and, indeed, their versatility is limitless. They pair very well with savory things like salads and chutneys. But, of course, they really shine in desserts.
I like apple pie, but I’ve always found it to be time consuming and finicky. Sometimes the crust is too hard or too soggy and, due to the long bake time, the apples tend to disintegrate into mush. This Apple and Pear Galette combines tart apples with sweet pears (also in season!) to create a very simple, yet elegant dessert that can stand in for apple pie whenever the craving sets in. Its delightfully rustic crust stays crisp and flaky while holding up the cooked fruit. You don’t even need a fork to eat this; a slice of this galette holds up like a slice of pizza! I’ll take this with a cup of Earl Grey tea, any day.
- 1½ cups flour
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 5 Tablespoons oil (I used a mix of coconut oil and olive oil)
- 4 Tablespoons cold water
- 1 large apple or 2 small ones (I used Rome apples)
- 2 pears (I used Bosc pears)
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg or mace
- Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to incorporate. Add the oil and pulse again to incorporate. It will look wet and crumbly. Finally, add the water and pulse to combine. The dough may look like little pebbles--that's ok. Remove from the processor and press it together into a ball, then flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- While the dough is chilling, Slice the apples and the pears into ¼ inch slices. (You can leave the skin on or peel them, whichever you prefer)
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- When your dough is ready, remove from the fridge and roll out onto a floured surface. Keep flouring the surface if you notice that it is sticking. Roll it out to a 15 inch disc. No need to be exact; the more rustic, the better. Transfer the rolled out dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and start to add the cut up fruit to the center. You can choose to arrange the slices neatly or just dump them on and spread them out. Either way, leave an inch or two of space around the edges.
- Sprinkle all of the sugar and spice mixture evenly on top of all the fruit. Fold in the edges of the dough onto the fruit and press gently to bind. Bake in the oven for 28-32 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and crisp and the fruits have taken a nice color. Serve warm or room temperature with ice cream or crème anglais or just a dusting of powdered sugar.
-Any kind of apples and pears will work, just stay away from an excessively watery variety like McIntosh.
-For the fat in the dough, you can use vegan butter, coconut oil, neutral oils (grapeseed, sunflower, etc.), or olive oil. I often use a combination of oils. Coconut and olive provides a nice combination of texture and flavor to the crust.
-I tend to like my desserts on the less sweet side, so if you have a sweet tooth, go ahead and add another Tablespoon of sugar in the sugar and spice mixture. Oh and by the way, coconut sugar or brown sugar are both wonderful substitutes.
I just baked this and I have already eaten 2/3 of it all on my own. It is incredibly delicious with its flaky crust and juicy yet slighty crispened pear and apple slices. I added some cardamom to the cinnamon which I really enjoy and blends in perfectly and quite subtly. As much as I love apple pie, I think this galette will be my future go-to recipe should the need for flaky crust and apples arise. It is so much easier and doesn’t contain as much fat as the regular pie, which always bothers me a bit to be true. Mostly because you can’t eat as much of it. But the best thing is definitely that one can eat it without a fork thanks to the crisp bottom. And this is only one of many awesome recipes of yours I have tried. I just tend to forget to comment. I am from Germany so Turkish food is quite popular here and is one of my favourtie cuisines and since going vegan I have definitely been missing börek and such. So your blog has become one of my favourite recipe sources. Long story short: Thank you so much for sharing all those great recipes with us. 🙂
Haha, Paula! I know what you mean because I’ve done the same thing before. It’s so nice and crisp that you keep telling yourself “just one more little piece…” I agree, I prefer to make this over apple pie because it’s so much easier and you get a really similar flavor. Good idea with the cardamom/cinnamon…it takes all kinds of spices very well.
Thanks so much for your nice comment! When I was in university, I studied in Germany and I miss it very much. 😀 Definitely give the börek a try! Not too complicated and can be adapted with other fillings (potato, mushroom, etc.)
Hi, I am curious as to whether you use extra virgin olive oil or a light-non-olivey tasting one.
Thank you
Hi Diana! I always use extra virgin olive oil. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever bought light olive oil! 😀 In baking, EVOO gives a nice, rich taste but if you aren’t crazy about it to begin with, swap it out with light or with another neutral oil like sunflower.