I’m so excited to be writing this first official post on the new site! It’s been a long time coming… I started blogging 3 years ago (craaazy), just with very terrible iPhone photography and such. I guess I never really thought about it as a particularly long term thing, or something I would come to enjoy so much.
My makeshift site (ugh, free Blogger is full of so many fails) worked for a while, and I definitely think it’s a path that most bloggers inevitably struggle through, but I have become so inspired by all the beautiful food blogs out there in the world. It’s amazing what people can do with lighting, composition, and a ‘lil creativity.
I honestly straight up got jealous of and mad at all of my favorite food blogs. I would look at their sites in awe and envy, and whine (most of the time to my pro-photographer novio, Nev) “Why can’t I do that?!”
Finally, after months of saying that I would…I took the first step towards professionalizing my blog, and I sat down one day and set up my own website! It is still in the process of being personalized (so it looks a little plain now), but I’m pretty happy with the results so far.
In addition to more tinkering with the actual page, I’m trying to work on photography, composition, and my blogging voice. All things that I feel come along with practice and inspiration that will keep me going. I got a new fancy camera that I’m learning to use, and have hopes to come up with some nice sets to shoot on. So hopefully you’ll see some improvements as I’m practicing and reforming my ‘blog-self’ if you will.
Now that I have updated y’all on my blogging news, let’s get to the baking! These lovely little galettes feature some of the summer’s best fruits! There’s something so satisfying and wonderful about baking with fruit that is at its peak in season.
Blackberry/nectarine is one of my favorite fruit combos. And the lemon zest with the blueberry filling in the minis was a perfect little addition that I had never tried before.
And let me just gush about how fun it is to make galettes. They’re just so rustic.
Rustic is such a funny term when it comes to food and baking in particular. You can use it to refer to things that came out notso pretty. It’s like: ohh, I made this really lopsided ugly cake…wait no, it’s just ruuustic.
That loaf of challah that you just couldn’t form into a pretty braid, and which instead resembled a tasty bread blob (check out my struggles with these guys). Rustic. Flat pies that are so so so easy to make, and still taste absolutely just as delicious as cute perfect pies? Rustic.
Galettes are easy, and super versatile. I came across a bunch of recipes for savoryyy galettes that looked delish. Might just have to try an onion goat cheese one next.
Pate Brisee (Adapted from Martha Stewart) Yield: 2 large galettes, or 1 large and 6 mini
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces and COLD
¼ to ½ cup ice water (I needed to add an extra 2 tbsp as well)
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. With a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the largest pieces are about the size of a pea. Drizzle the ¼ cup of water over the mixture, and using a wooden spoon gently mix together. If it looks like it is too dry, add up to another ¼ cup of water. Do not overmix. Once everything is incorporated, gather into a ball and cut in half. Wrap each half in a piece of plastic wrap, flatten into a disk, and chill for at least an hour.
Blackberry Nectarine Galette: (Adapted from Bon Appetit)
1 ½ pint blackberries
3 medium nectarines, cut into ¼ inch slices
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
1 egg, whisked with about 1 tsp water (for wash)
Sliced almonds
Coarse sugar for drizzling
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the fruit, and stir gently with a wooden spoon to coat. Set aside.
Lemon Blueberry Galette-lets: (Adapted from Ree Drummond)
2 cups blueberries
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 lemon, zested
In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest. Juice half the lemon, and add with the blueberries to the sugar mixture. Stir gently to coat, and set aside.
Assembly:
Blackberry/Nectarine–
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a work surface with a piece of floured parchment over it, roll out one of the dough halves to about a 12 inch round. Spoon the blackberry/nectarine filling into the middle of the dough, leaving a 2 inch border. Fold the edges over to the middle in whatever arrangement you like (I tried to do about 5 or 6 folds). Brush with egg wash, and press sliced almonds into the folded crust. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake for about 55 minutes until crust is browned and filling bubbles. Allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Blueberry-
Turn the oven up to 425. Roll out the second half of dough the same way. Using a pastry cutter round with a 5 inch diameter, cut out 5 or 6 rounds (you will need to re-roll out the scraps). Fill with a scant ¼ cup of blueberry filling, and fold edges over the same way as the large galette. Brush with egg wash, and drizzle over coarse sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes until browned and filling bubbles. Allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Pie can easily seem like such a difficult undertaking for some people. The double-crust situation is something many shy away from, and galettes are the perfect solution to such a problem! They are intrinsically suppoooosed to be rustic and uneven-looking and easy.
You can make big ones, small ones, savory, sweet. The options are endless. All without having to set foot near a pie dish! If you’re fearful of pie, give these guys a go!
They might just be your next favorite thing. 🙂
Leave a Reply