Fall Pear Galette

The pears were getting ripe, fast. There wasn't much time and we were sick of just eating them. We made 5 batches of pear butter and dried a ton of them, so I chose a few more recipes to use them up. The first one was this simple galette. It used a large mound of pears, a refrigerated crust, and had a crunchy sugar topping. I used the leftover Filling Cream from the Peaches and Cream Cake I made again last week, which is perfect for fruit desserts. This was a simple dessert that didn't take long to throw together and it tasted wonderful, just like fall!

Fall Pear Galette From Cooking Light

Galette:

Cooking spray

1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded aged sharp Cheddar cheese

5 ripe Bartlett or D'Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch slices

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Caramel:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.
To prepare galette, line a jelly roll pan with foil, and coat foil with cooking spray. Roll dough into an 11-inch circle; place on baking sheet. Sprinkle crust with cheese, leaving a 1-inch border.
Combine pears, juice, and nutmeg in a large bowl; toss well. Add brown sugar and flour; toss gently. Arrange fruit on dough leaving a 2-inch border. (Pears will be piled high on dough.) Fold edges of dough toward center, pressing gently to seal (dough will only partially cover pears). Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until crust is lightly browned (filling may leak slightly during cooking). Cool galette on a wire rack.
To prepare caramel, heat granulated sugar in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring as needed to dissolve sugar evenly (about 4 minutes). Cook 1 minute or until golden. Remove from heat. Drizzle over galette.

Blueberry and Blackberry Galette with Cornmeal Crust

This caught my eye in a recent issue of Cooking Light and then I found out we were doing a Galette for TWD at the end of this month, so I decided a taste test was in order. This recipe came together quickly. The pastry was very simple to throw together. I added lemon zest to the berry filling because I think citrus zest gives great flavor to any dessert. This was so delicious! I let it stand for more than 30 minutes, so we could enjoy it with dinner and served it with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Yummy!

Blueberry and Blackberry Galette with Cornmeal Crust adapted from Cooking Light

Pastry:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 7 3/4 ounces)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk

Filling:

4 cups blueberries

2 cups blackberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons lemon juice

zest of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons fat-free milk

1 large egg white

1 1/2 tablespoons decorating sugar

1. To prepare pastry, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a food processor; pulse two times. Add butter to flour mixture; pulse 4 to 5 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly add buttermilk through food chute; process just until dough forms a ball. Gently press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Unwrap and place dough on a sheet of parchment paper. Roll dough into a 15-inch circle. Place dough and parchment on a baking sheet.
4. To prepare filling, combine berries and next 3 ingredients (through juice) in a medium bowl; add zest and toss gently to coat. Arrange berry mixture in center of dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold edges of dough toward center, pressing gently to seal (dough will only partially cover berry mixture).
5. Combine fat-free milk and egg white in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Brush dough with milk mixture; sprinkle decorating sugar evenly over dough. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown. Let stand 30 minutes; cut into wedges.