For this month’s secret recipe club, I was asked to make something from Julia’s fun blog: Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body. Immediately upon assignment, I started perusing Julia’s recipes: I found so many that looked so great, it was really hard to choose just one. I also kept getting sucked into her stories…she’s very funny!
Many of her salads and vegetable dishes are stunning, but it’s in the dessert department that I think Julia really shines. I decided to adapt her Rhubarb Strawberry Pear Galette (a recipe she adapted from Maria) using these black velvet plumcots I’d just brought home from the store.
I’ve never had one of these pretty purple fruits before, so I didn’t know what to expect. They look and feel just like purple apricots, and I was hoping they’d taste like apricots, too: I bought a big bag intending to make jam. But the flavor is much more like a plum, which I honestly don’t love as much as apricots. My kids enjoy plums and proclaimed these super delicious, though, so I nixed the jam plans and made this galette instead.
I followed Julia’s crust recipe almost to the letter, but swapped in 3/4 cup rye flour for the wheat flour (the inspiration for which came from Good to the Grain
This galette is not difficult to make at all, and it’s the perfect way to showcase summer fruit. Also, I found that when the plumcots were cooked, their flavor is more like apricots than when the fruit is raw, so I really loved this galette. I did not add much sweetener to the filling, so it was a bit tart, which I loved. You might want to add more brown sugar if tart is not your thing.
This would makes a great end to a meal, but it’s been so hot that I baked mine up early in the morning, then served it with Greek yogurt for breakfast. Cold leftovers are delicious, as well, and the crust holds up just beautifully.
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Recipe for Plumcot Galette
Ingredients
For the dough:
- *1 cup organic all-purpose flour
- *3/4 cup organic rye flour
- *1/3 cup organic brown sugar
- *1/4 cup organic coarse cornmeal
- *1/2 cup 1 stick cold organic butter, cut into 8 pieces
- *1/3 cup all-natural buttermilk
- *1.5 pounds black velvet plumcots
- *1-2 teaspoons apricot butter or apricot jam
- *1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- *1-2 tablespoons organic brown sugar
- *1 tablespoon organic cornstarch
- *1 egg beaten
Instructions
- 1. To make the dough, combine flours, sugar, and cornmeal in a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to combine. Add butter and pulse a few more times, until mixture resembles coarse meal. With the food processor running, slowing pour in the buttermilk, processing just until the dough forms a ball (you don't want to work the dough because you want it to be tender). Remove the dough ball and stick any remaining pieces of dough to it, then wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 45 minutes or more before rolling out.
- 2. Preheat to 350 degrees F.
- 3. Combine sliced plumcots, maple syrup, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Mix well, then taste the fruit. How tart it is should determine how much brown sugar you sprinkle on later. Set aside.
- 4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a parchment line baking sheet. Starting at the center of the dough, roll out, forming a 12-14 inch wide circle.
- 5. Spoon the fruit mixture into the center of the dough. Depending on how wide your dough circle is, you may not use every last bit of the fruit, and there will definitely be some juice leftover (if you spoon too much of the juice in, it will probably leak out), which you can save for another purpose. Make sure to leave a border of several inches around the fruit.
- 6. Lift and gather the edges of the dough up and over the fruit. Gaps in the dough will cause the juices to leak, so press gently to seal the dough well. Brush the dough with the egg wash, then sprinkle the fruit with 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar (I used 1 tablespoon, and sprinkled a little on the crust as well). Chill until the oven is ready.
- 7. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the crust is nicely brown and the filling is bubbly. Allow to cool before serving.
- 8. Serve with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream, or serve with Greek yogurt for a more virtuous dessert (or breakfast).
