Peach-Almond Galette

When I was at the library with my daughters several weeks ago, I grabbed the book Chowderland, from the new books section, at the last second. It was an adorable, small-format cookbook with lots of lovely pictures of delicious-looking food. I let my daughter pick a recipe and she chose Plum-Almond Galette. I’m sure the bright pink plums in the picture caught her eye. The plums turned rather bitter when cooked (a problem that seems to be quite common when baking with plums, though I’m still not quite sure why it happened), but we still ate every bite. The bitterness was rather interesting and there was something special about the almond-and-sugar coated crust. A layer of ground almonds, flour, and sugar formed a sweet, almond paste between the crust and the fruit. I decided to try the almond crust again, but use peaches this time.

My two favorite things about Colorado in August are the incredible, under-70° weather we’ve been having in the mountains this week and the Palisade peaches. I look forward to the August peaches at the beginning of every summer. They lack nothing in their natural, juicy state and I can eat them fresh by the pound. Yet, I was sure they would be lovely baked in this dessert. They were. In contrast with the plums, the peaches worked perfectly and every bite was completely delightful. Also, this time I made peach whipped cream, with cream and the syrup remaining after combining the peaches with lemon juice and sugar. Such a treat!

Adapted from Plum-Almond Galette from Chowderland by Brooke Dojny

Yield: 8 servings
45 minutes

Ingredients

Crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 stick + 2 tablespoons), cut into about 12 pieces
4–6 tablespoons ice water

Filling:
½ cup sliced almonds, plus 2 tablespoons for the topping
¼ cup plus ⅓ cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound ripe yellow peaches, peeled and sliced into ½-inch-thick slices (about 3 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Method

For the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Add butter and pulse until the butter is about the size of peas. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of ice water and pulse until dough begins to clump together. If the mixture is too dry to press into a dough with your fingers, sprinkle on remaining 1–2 tablespoons of water and pulse a few more times. Turn dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Gather into a ball and then flatten into a 5″ disk. Refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients, at least 30 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before rolling out.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 12″ circle. Slide onto a rimmed parchment-lined baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 375° F.
For the almond layer, combine ⅓ cup almonds, the ¼ cup sugar, and the flour in a food processor. Process until ground fine. Spread the mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 2½″ border.
Peel and slice the peaches. Toss with the remaining ⅓ cup sugar and lemon juice. Reserve the syrup in the bottom of the bowl, for the whipped cream, and arrange the fruit over the almond mixture. Dot the fruit with pieces of butter. Fold the edges of the dough over the peaches, pleating as necessary to create a border, roughly 2″ wide. Make sure to pinch the dough firmly as you work your way around, or it will come apart as the butter melts in the oven. Sprinkle with almond slices, if desired. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling. Allow to cool, as desired, before serving.
To prepare the peach cream, combine the reserved peach syrup and 1 cup of cream in a mixing bowl. Mix until desired consistency. Serve over individual slices of the peach-almond galette. Enjoy!