New Beginnings
It’s October, and a new school year is in full swing. This time of year always feels like a new beginning, a time to shake off the dust and get back to things. There is an apple orchard we love to go to each year, with beautiful apples I love to use when making this Mountain Rose Apple Galette. The orchard is quite large, and its a nice stroll from the farm store past the corn fields, dahlias, and pumpkin patch over a little bridge that crosses a small creek, to a literal sea of apple trees.
Mountain Rose Apples
This orchard grows and sells about 200 apple varieties, some from the orchard, and others that they sell in their farm store that they don’t grow. One particular variety I love is the Mountain Rose. They are a lovely shade of pale green, with a shockingly bright pink flesh and a slightly tart flavor. I typically eat them raw, but I decided I rather liked the idea of cooking with them to see how they would taste, and also to see if that beautiful rosy hue would stand up to some time in the oven. On both counts, I was not disappointed.
The Crust
I felt in this case a galette was in order to showcase the color of these apples, and not hide them under a crust. Speaking of crust, this crust is easy peasy, coming together in minutes with almost no mess right in your food processor. Its flaky, buttery, and rich. I highly recommend using pastry flour for this recipe, because the lower protein content makes for a more tender crust. If you don’t have any feel free to use all purpose. The high butter content of this dough does mean you have to work a little faster to get it roilled out and filled, but I don’t mind. The rich buttery flavor is worth it.
Tips and Tricks
You can easily prep the crust and filling ahead. When you are ready roll out your crust, place the filling in the middle and fold the edges over and bake. While it bakes enjoy dinner with your guests. Or, cook the rest of your meal in the hour it takes to bake this, and you can have a wonderful dessert to enjoy with your meal in the same amount of time it takes to cook dinner, even after a long day at work or taking care of the kids. I love galettes because they come together without much fuss, and they are wonderful for someone who is learning to cook, being less intimidating than some other desserts. Pait it with Delicata and Carnival Squash Soup for the perfect Fall meal. I hope you give this wonderful and simple Mountain Rose Apple Galette a try!
Mountain Rose Apple Galette
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Pastry Flour
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 14 tbsp Butter, Unsalted
- 4 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar, Unfiltered
- 5-6 tbsp Water, Very Cold
- 3 Small Apples, Mountain Rose
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 tsp Cornstarch
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Ginger, Ground
- 1/4 tsp Cardamom, Ground
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Sift the flour, and add to the bowl of a food processor along with the salt and 2 tbsp sugar. Pulse a few times to combine. Cut 14 tbsp butter into thin pats and add to the food processor, pulsing a few times until mixture looks like course meal. Add the apple cider vinegar, and pulse a few more times. Add water a tbsp at a time, pulsing a few times with each addition, until a dough ball forms. Turn out onto floured surface and knead a two or three times, form into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to rest.
- While pastry is resting, cut apples in half and remove seeds, cut into quarters, and slice into thin wedges. Place apple slices in a large bowl, and toss with the lemon juice. Next, toss with 2 tsp of cornstarch until coated. Then toss apple slices with 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, and 1/4 tsp cardamom.
- Remove pastry from plastic wrap onto a floured surface, and roll out into a circle until dough is a quarter inch thickness. It should be at least 12 inches across. Move pastry to a large cookie sheet. Place apples in the middle of the pastry, spreading evenly and leaving a two inch border of pastry all around the edges. Fold the edges of the pastry over the apples, and brush the pastry edges with beaten egg. Bake for one hour, cut into wedges and serve.
Notes
I used Mountain Rose apples, which have a beautiful pink interior. If you are not able to find these in your area, Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious are quite suitable, your galette filling just won't have the same bright pink color to it.ย
