As I have an almost unreasonable love of homemade crusts, I make several batches of dough in advance, and just wrap them in plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer until needed. This is a simple peach galette, with fresh yellow peaches tossed with a little sugar, flour, and vanilla. You can play around with it a bit. Before laying down the peaches I dotted the bottom of the crust with a little almond paste. You could add blueberries, or toss in a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg. Sprinkle with lemon juice if the peaches are too sweet. Speaking of sweetness, it’s best to use yellow peaches for this baked dessert. The flavor of sweet white peaches is delicate and doesn’t hold up well to cooking.
Using Store-Bought Pie Dough
This recipe includes directions for an easy homemade crust, but if you’d prefer to use ready-made pie dough, that works too. Be sure to use dough that’s 12 inches in diameter. Alternatively, try making this galette with thawed puff pastry—roll it out lightly and cut it into a 12-inch circle.
Make it Ahead
Freeze the unbaked galette, unwrapped, until it’s firm. Wrap the frozen galette well in plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze it for up to 3 months. You can bake it directly from frozen, adding baking time as needed.
1 1/4 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) butter, cut into small 1/2-inch cubes, chilled in freezer at least 15 minutes, preferably an hour 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
For the filling
2 large, not overly ripe yellow peaches (about 3/4 pound total), pitted and sliced into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon flour 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon almond paste, optional 1 teaspoon butter 1 egg Sprinkling coarse sugar, optional
Slowly add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough just begins to clump. Turn out onto a clean surface. Use your clean hands to form into a disc. Do not over-knead. Work the dough only enough to bring it barely together into a disk. Sprinkle with a little flour on all sides, wrap with plastic, and place into the refrigerator to chill for an hour. (See our pate brisee recipe for more detailed instruction if you are new to making crusts.) Place the peach slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the flour and sugar. Toss gently to coat. Sprinkle vanilla extract over the peaches. Arrange the peach slices in an overlapping pattern in a single layer in the center of the dough, forming about a 7 or 8-inch circle. Dot with a little butter. Use a pastry brush to coat the exposed dough with an egg wash (you can cook up the leftover egg as a little scrambled egg, by the way), and sprinkle with coarse sugar if using. Great served with a little vanilla ice cream.
