Rustic Apple-Cranberry & Rosemary Galette

Galette is a rustic french form pastry filled with fruits and baked. I usually see an abundance of these in magazines around summer and fall, and am always captivated by the sophisticated yet simplicity of these rustic tarts. As I prefer savoury over sweet most of the time, I have desired to make a rustic tomato and goat cheese or an onion and mushroom galette. But when asked to make a dessert for dinner I was more than happy to be able to try a sweet galette.

As it is winter I went with a classic apple and cranberry filling. I used simple cinnamon and sugar for spices. Next time I think I will add more flavor by adding ginger, coriander, nutmeg and cinnamon into the fruit filling. Although I did try to incorporate a bit of my love of savoury flavor into the dessert by adding fresh rosemary. Using herbs with fruit in desserts when paired correctly can provide a well balanced flavor.

The pastry crust recipe is adapted from LCBO Food & Drink magazine. I used this recipe because it added cream cheese to the pastry mix. I find cream cheese dough has a nice flavor, is easy to work with and usually produces a nice moist, yet firm crust.

Dough

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup cream cheese, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tbsp lemon juice
water as needed

Combine all ingredients except water in a food processor. Remove ingredients from food processor into a large bowl. Knead dough together with hands. Add a bit of water as needed (not too much or will be sticky) until ball of dough forms. Let sit covered for 30 mins.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough in to make approximately a 14" imperfect circle. Then lightly trace a circle in the middle of the dough where the fruit will be pilled. Depending if you want the fruit to be exposed or completely covered will depend on how big your fruit circle will be.

Filling

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup or more of fresh cranberries
1 T fresh minced rosemary
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sugar

Place apples in bowl, spinkle with cinnamon, sugar and rosemary. Toss until well coated. Now arrange apples around inner circle of dough. Add in cranberries where desired.

Fold pastry up over fruit and press down lightly. Brush pastry with egg wash (egg white slightly beaten) and sprinkly lighting with sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes at 450F. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with rosemary.

If you do not want the pastry to cover all the fruit you could make the inner circle of fruit larger and would likely need more apples and cranberries. Can also add pears or any seasonal fruit.

Herbs and Fruit Pairings:
Rosemary with apples or roasted peaches and honey
Lavender with berries (strawberries, blackberries), lemon
Thyme with lemon, figs, strawberries, plums, apples