The damson and black plums for this tart were piled high at the farmers’ market last weekend, along with a few green and red varieties and the bare beginnings of Maine’s apple season. While the start of summer drives me rather nuts with desperation about which juicy fruits to get my deprived hands on first, the fall transition has a lovely sort of ceremonious appeal--measured and familiar, instead of rushed. We’re expecting pears this weekend at the market, along with spinach, gourds, and more apples, and it’s that even rolling out of fall fruits that keeps me motivated to bake with produce before bourbon, custards, and creams totally take over for the winter.
This galette is a lovely end-of-summer ode. The fruit is beautiful and barely sweetened, and the pine nuts add a bit of savory depth and a toasty crunch. If you have a tart dough waiting in the wings already, then it comes together in just a few easy steps too, perfect for when the new, wonderful WWOOFer is distracting you with stories of Labrador or when Dave is laying the smackdown about dishes. And while it’s hot, hot, hot everywhere and folks are lamenting the use of the oven this time of year, it’s starting to cool off here and I’m a complete sucker for baking fruit to its juiciest peak anyway. For the next few weeks it’ll be a toss-up between plums and pears around here, but it’s a late summer dilemma that brings out some of my favorite kinds of baked goods.
Plum Pine Nut Galette
Adapted significantly from Gourmet (1999!)
For the Crust
From Apt. 2B Baking Co. and I Made That!
Makes enough for two, but you’ll only need one for this recipe. Feel free to substitute in your favorite crust recipe instead!
12 ounces pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
8 ounces (two sticks) very cold butter
4 to 6 ounces ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1. On a clean counter, dump your flour and salt; mix it around with a bench scraper. Chop one stick of butter into quarters, and cut it into the four with your bench scraper. When butter is about the size of lima beans, cut in the second stick, pulling, folding, and tossing with the bench scraper as you go, until the butter is about the size of quarters. Add the vinegar to the ice water.
2. Using your fingers, flick the water onto the butter-flour mixture, gently folding with the bench scraper all the while. You have added enough water once the mixture holds together when squeezed; it should be very shaggy.
3. Next, push the butter into the flour. Using the heel of your palm, push a small section of the dough down and away from you; this creates long layers of butter in your dough, which translates to long flaky layers in your crust. Use your bench scraper to scrape up the smear, and put it a bowl. Repeat until all the dough has been smeared and you have a bowlful of long, buttery layers. Push these into one mass, divide in half, wrap each in plastic, flatten into disks, and chill at least two hours, or better yet overnight.
For the Filling
2.5 pounds plums of your choosing
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
From Apt. 2B Baking Co. and I Made That!
Makes enough for two, but you’ll only need one for this recipe. Feel free to substitute in your favorite crust recipe instead!
12 ounces pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
8 ounces (two sticks) very cold butter
4 to 6 ounces ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1. On a clean counter, dump your flour and salt; mix it around with a bench scraper. Chop one stick of butter into quarters, and cut it into the four with your bench scraper. When butter is about the size of lima beans, cut in the second stick, pulling, folding, and tossing with the bench scraper as you go, until the butter is about the size of quarters. Add the vinegar to the ice water.
2. Using your fingers, flick the water onto the butter-flour mixture, gently folding with the bench scraper all the while. You have added enough water once the mixture holds together when squeezed; it should be very shaggy.
3. Next, push the butter into the flour. Using the heel of your palm, push a small section of the dough down and away from you; this creates long layers of butter in your dough, which translates to long flaky layers in your crust. Use your bench scraper to scrape up the smear, and put it a bowl. Repeat until all the dough has been smeared and you have a bowlful of long, buttery layers. Push these into one mass, divide in half, wrap each in plastic, flatten into disks, and chill at least two hours, or better yet overnight.
For the Filling
2.5 pounds plums of your choosing
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup demerara sugar, divided
1 egg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out your pie dough to a 14- or 15-inch circle. Trim the edges so they’re even, slide onto a piece of parchment paper on the back of a cookie sheet, and pop into the freezer while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. This cooling step will help you fold or pleat the dough more easily in a bit.
2. Cut the plums into half-inch slices. I cut some of my plums into quarters and the bigger ones into sixths, so it just depends on your plum size. Set aside. In a food processor, grind the toasted pine nuts with the flour and just two tablespoons of the demerara sugar. Mixture should be finely ground, but not powdered.
3. Remove the dough round from the freezer and, leaving it on the back of the cookie sheet, spread ground nut mixture across the bottom, leaving a three-inch border. Starting at the outside edge of the ground nuts, arrange your plum slices into one, tightly fit ring with all the plums facing the same way. Make the inner ring, then the final third ring in the middle. If you have extra plum slices, go back and fill in any gaps or wider spaces. And if you’re using different plum varieties, try to alternate the varieties in every other slice or one variety per ring. Don’t worry if you can’t!
4. Fold tart dough up and over the plums, pleating or pinching as you go, then put the whole thing into the freezer for at least one hour. This will help the dough keep its shape when it’s popped into the hot oven. Once the tart has fully chilled, brush the crust with your egg wash. Mix the remaining two tablespoons of demerara sugar with the cinnamon. Sprinkle a heavy layer of the sugar-cinnamon mixture across the crust, then sprinkle the remaining over the fruit itself. Brush any stray granules off the parchment so they don’t scorch in the oven. Dot the tart with butter and cover the tart very lightly with a sheet of foil, and bake for a total of 45 to 50 minutes until crust is dark golden brown and juices are bubbling. Remove the foil about halfway through baking so that the crust can color. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, and serve.
1/4 cup demerara sugar, divided
1 egg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out your pie dough to a 14- or 15-inch circle. Trim the edges so they’re even, slide onto a piece of parchment paper on the back of a cookie sheet, and pop into the freezer while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. This cooling step will help you fold or pleat the dough more easily in a bit.
2. Cut the plums into half-inch slices. I cut some of my plums into quarters and the bigger ones into sixths, so it just depends on your plum size. Set aside. In a food processor, grind the toasted pine nuts with the flour and just two tablespoons of the demerara sugar. Mixture should be finely ground, but not powdered.
3. Remove the dough round from the freezer and, leaving it on the back of the cookie sheet, spread ground nut mixture across the bottom, leaving a three-inch border. Starting at the outside edge of the ground nuts, arrange your plum slices into one, tightly fit ring with all the plums facing the same way. Make the inner ring, then the final third ring in the middle. If you have extra plum slices, go back and fill in any gaps or wider spaces. And if you’re using different plum varieties, try to alternate the varieties in every other slice or one variety per ring. Don’t worry if you can’t!
4. Fold tart dough up and over the plums, pleating or pinching as you go, then put the whole thing into the freezer for at least one hour. This will help the dough keep its shape when it’s popped into the hot oven. Once the tart has fully chilled, brush the crust with your egg wash. Mix the remaining two tablespoons of demerara sugar with the cinnamon. Sprinkle a heavy layer of the sugar-cinnamon mixture across the crust, then sprinkle the remaining over the fruit itself. Brush any stray granules off the parchment so they don’t scorch in the oven. Dot the tart with butter and cover the tart very lightly with a sheet of foil, and bake for a total of 45 to 50 minutes until crust is dark golden brown and juices are bubbling. Remove the foil about halfway through baking so that the crust can color. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, and serve.
I trust in your crust I trust.
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