See that photo? Know what those are? Those are victory hands. Because I did it-finally! I made a super-flaky crust (for a gallette-but i think it could be used for a pie or tart crust too).
Ever since I started making pies, 3 or so years ago, I've wanted to make a super flaky crust. And generally my crusts are okay, but they could be better. Usually they're just a little on the soggy side, or they're just not flaky enough.
Well I was looking through the Tartine Bakery Cookbook (the original not the new one) and I noticed their Fruit Galette recipe. They describe the crust for this galette as similar to a "rough puff pastry"-same ingredients as those in their flaky pie crust dough, but different method: more complicated. FOr quite some time, I was intimidated by this concept of a "more difficult/complicated" method. Finally, though, after one too many trips to Durham NC's Scratch Bakery--where one can find what are perhaps some of the best pies/tarts/pastries in the world-- I decided it was time I aimed for "more" in my pastry crusts; thus I broke down and tried this recipe.
And turns out the method was really not so bad. It involves rolling, layer by layer, cold hunks of butter into flour. The process was a bit messy but really not too bad and actually quite a lot of fun. And the result was just so rewarding.
And so I won't delay this any longer. Here and now, I give you the recipe for pastry crust that will change your life-or at least boost your self-esteem.
Adapted from the Tartine Bakery cookbook (the original), by Elisabeth M. Pruett and Chad Robertson (page 71).
For the dough: (this makes enough dough for 2 large galettes, or 12 small galettes)
INGREDIENTS:
Very cold unsalted butter,-2 cups or 1 pound/455 g
Water -1 cup or 8 oz/250 ml
Salt - 1.5 tsp or 7 ml
*All purpose flour- 2 1/3 cups or 12 oz/340 g
*Pastry flour - 2 2/3 cups or 12 oz/340 g
(I suggest adding a tablespoon or so of sugar to this-not what the authors suggest but I thought a bit of sweetness in the dough might be nice)
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Rolling pin
Bench scraper
Cookie sheet
*(NOTE: the authors say that a mix of all purpose and pastry flour is ideal. I didn't have pastry at the time and did without. The recipe came out just fine,a lthough next time I'll probably aim to go with the all purpose/pastry mix).
1. Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes and put into freezer.
2. Mix water with salt, and place in freezer.
3. Chill butter and water/salt mixtures for about 10 minutes.
4. Measure flour onto your work surface It's not necessary to mix the flours at this point, because they will get mixed as the dough is made.
5. Spread flour into a rectangle about 1/3 inch deep.
6. Scatter butter cubes on top of the flour. Toss some flour on the butter so that your rolling pin doesn't stick.
7. Start to roll butter into flour. When the butter begins to flatten into long and thin pieces, use a bench scraper to scoop up sides of the rectangle so that it's the size that you started with.
8. Repeat rolling and scraping 3-4 times .
9. Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and pour all of your water/salt mixture into the center (this was a bit messy-next time I will incorporate the water slightly more gradually).
Using the bench scraper, scoop the sides of the dough onto the center, cutting the water into the dough.
10. Keep scraping and cutting until the dough is a shaggy mass, and then shape it into a rectangle that measures about 10 x 14 inches. Now, lightly dust the top of the rectangle with flour
11. Roll out the rectangle until it's twice as wide again and then scrape the top, bottom, and sides together until it is back to the original size. Reroll, and repeat 3 or 4 times until you have smooth and cohesive dough (I think I ended up rerolling quite a few more times-I didn't get a "smooth" and "cohesive" dough after 4 rerolls).
You should now have a nice neat rectangle that measures about 10 x 14 inches.
12. Transfer the dough to a large baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and chill well, about 1 hr (I actually extended the chilling to about...um...7 days. Turned out just fine).
13. When you're ready to roll out the dough, divide it into 2 equal portions if you're making large galettes or into 12 equal portions if you're making small galettes. Roll out into circles and transfer to a baking sheet (the authors have amazing instructions for rolling out into a circle. im not going to type all of that out, but you should buy the book. it's an awesome book anyways).
Chill the circles until they are firm.
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I made a pear galette with this dough.
For the filling:
4 bosch pears,
1/4 spiced rum
sugar to taste
2 tablespoons ginger
PREHEAT OVEN to 375 degrees.
Peel and cut pears, length wise.
Place in a sauce pan over medium heat, add the spice rum, sugar and ginger, stir and cook down the pears, for about 10 minutes.
1. Place the pear filling in the center of the dough circle: leave about a 2 inch border for a large galette and about a 1 inch border for the smaller galettes.
2. Fold in sides of circles to cover the fruit-make sure not to leave any spaces from which fruit might leak out.
3. Chill until firm (I managed to skip this chilling step).
4. Brush sides of the galette with milk (or an egg wash as the authors recommend). Sprinkle with granulated sugar, and then bake!
5. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
6. Throw up your triumphant hands to celebrate your success baking a flaky dough!
