These galettes make a sunny change to the pale fruit desserts of winter (apples and pears, I'm talking to you), with a juicy, fruity filling as pleasing as a peach pie. A crisp crust flakes against the tender, sweet fruit, its flavor boosted by the citrus zest and judicious amount of sugar.
Prep Time: 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 20 minutesminutes
Chilling time: 1 hourhour
Total: 1 hourhour40 minutesminutes
Servings: 64-5" galettes.
Ingredients
All-butter pate briseé:
3/4cupall-purpose flour
1/2cupwhole spelt (or whole wheat pastry) flour
1teaspoonsugar
1/2teaspoonfine sea salt
4ouncescold, unsalted butter, in 1/2" dice(8 tablespoons/1 stick)
about 4 tablespoons ice water
Persimmon filling:
1large or 2 small, dead-ripe hachiya persimmons (see headnote)
2medium, ripe fuyu persimmons (see headnote)
3tablespoonssugar, plus extra sugar for sprinkling
zest of 1/2 clementine
zest of 1/4 lemon
pinchsalt
squeeze of lemon juice
2tablespoonsheavy cream (or milk, water or beaten egg) for brushing the dough
Instructions
Make the crust:
In a large bowl, stir together the flours, sugar and salt. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour, and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles sand with lots of pea-sized butter chunks. Drizzle the ice water over, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a rubber spatula, until the dough will hold together when you give it a squeeze. Dump the dough out onto a counter, divide it roughly into 6 portions, and fraisage by dragging a portion of dough across the counter using the heel of your hand. Scrape up the dough (a metal bench scraper works well herand gently press it into a ball. Cut the dough into 6 even pieces (they should weigh about 2 ounces eacand flatten them into small discs. Put the discs on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
Remove the discs from the fridge, and roll them out into 5-6" rounds on a lightly floured surface, dusting the rolling pin and surface with a little flour and rotating the dough to keep it from sticking. Stack the rounds on a plate and chill for another 30 minutes.
Prepare the persimmons:
Remove the stem(from the hachiya(s), slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh with a spoon, keeping the gelatinous segments in tact. Discard the peel. Cut the stem out of the fuyus, slice them in half lengthwise, place the halves cut-side down, and use a sharp knife (serrated works welto cut them into thin slices, about 3/8" thick. Remove the brown seeds, if there are any.
In a medium bowl, rub the sugar with the zests and salt, then toss in the fuyu slices and lemon juice to combine.
Assemble and bake the galettes:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400º. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove one round of dough from the fridge, trimming the edges clean if you like. Place 1 1/2 tablespoons of hachiya flesh in the center, then top with a circle of fuyu slices (about 7 slices worked for me). Fold up the edges around the fruit, pressing on the pleats to stick them together. Place the galette on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining rounds of dough and persimmons.
Brush the edges of the dough with the cream, and sprinkle the galettes with sugar.
Bake the galettes until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, about 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
The galettes are best the day they are baked, when the crust is crisp, but they can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 or 3 days. Reheat in an oven or toaster oven before serving.
Notes
This recipe is all about the persimmons, so be sure that yours are at the peak of ripeness when you make this. It calls for both the gooey flesh from hachiya persimmons (the heart-shaped ones that feel like water balloons about to burst when fully ripe) and squat fuyus (which should be bright orange and have a hint of give when squeezed, and whose flesh should be crisp-tender and full of flavor).Nutritional values are based on one of six galettes.