The Jolly Fox
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Did someone say Galette?
I have had galettes on my mind lately. If you’re wondering what they are, well then, what a perfect time for me to ‘splain it to chu. The word galette is used by the French to describe a free-form pastry of sorts. I tend to think of them as free form pies, but the term loosely applies to several different types of pastry including cake-like things and oversized cookie things.
Anyhow, I will do a recipe for a galette sometime soon, but for now, I need to work on my form. Actually, I’d like to work on presentation and visual improvements with many of the dishes I make, especially desserts. I have been thinking about doing a cake decorating class at my local Michael’s store to start–yes, Michael’s has cake decorating classes! 🙂 My dishes are usually full of flavor, but I think they could definitely stand to look a little better visually. Here are some past galettes I’ve made and I think I am improving on my folding techniques. What do you think?
My first thought after making this was that I should have spent more time making the folds. Just doesn’t look French enough to me. 😉
I was a bit more successful with this Rustic Apricot and Raspberry galette I made. I like to leave my galettes open-faced so that you can see some of the goodies inside. I think I did better with this one because I made it smaller than the first, savory style one I made above. I made this one with a touch of Grand Marnier; idea and recipe adapted from Ladycakes. 🙂
This is my most recent creation. Again, this one could stand a visual/presentation improvement I think. Although, I was pressed for time when I made this one and the pie dough I had made the night before was taking absolutely forever to reach a workable temperature. It’s because I made the crust with organic virgin coconut oil as my fat, with a tiny bit of Earth Balance–then stored it in the fridge overnight. You should never store your jar of coconut oil in the fridge because it becomes unworkably hard. At the same time, it’s way more convenient to make pastry dough in advance and it’s necessary to store it in the fridge or freezer, coconut oil or not. It helps to roll the dough out into a flat disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. That way, it will be easier to roll out and will warm up a bit faster…but don’t let it get too warm! Oh pastry dough, you’re so high maintenance!
I think to be a proper galette, the pastry must hold a slice when cut. I feel the same way about pie. If it doesn’t hold a slice, it’s still wonderful and delicious, but I think it becomes something else. A delicious pile of sweetness can still be amazing 🙂
I’ll be working on some fall galettes or maybe an end of summer peach galette? Either way, I’ll try to come back with a recipe so you all can get to making some yummy galettes.
The Jolly Fox 
Seriously get out of my head :). This is one of the items on my list to make once the kitchen is up and running again. Hmmm maybe we need to do some galette cooking at my place soon and have a tasting for friends.
They all look and sound completely amazing!
oooh, cake decorating class sounds fun 🙂
They look delicious!
Thanks guys!
Danielle, we should take one together! I’m sure we could find a Michael’s in between where we live 🙂
Those look gorgeous! I can’t wait for the recipes!!!