You’ve never made a pie before? Struggling with confidence when it comes to baking? Or maybe just looking for a new spin on an old theme?
This is one of the easiest things I’ve ever made – and it’s a showstopper!
I’ve made less than a dozen pies in my life. I’m not a skilled baker. It intimidates me, to be honest. But making these galettes are as easy as it gets!
Before explaining the recipes, I need to explain a bit of terminology related to how I slice the pears. I use a mandoline to get even slices and I’m left with two groups of slices:
- Prime cuts. These are the pear-shaped pieces that I get from my first and second cuts. When I’m done making prime cuts, I’m left with a narrow wedge of pear with the core in it’s center. These are the widest and prettiest.
- Secondary cuts. These are the last two groups of slices that are rectangular and come from the remaining sides of the pears after the primary cuts are made. These are rectangular and not as pretty.
Understanding the difference between those terms (I made them up) is essential to nail this galette!
PEAR GALETTE RECIPE – INGREDIENTS
- This pie dough. Rolled out (it doesn’t have to be in a perfect circle)
- 6 pears cut into two piles (one pile of primary cuts and one pile of secondary cuts, per above)
- Juice of 0.5-1 lemon (toss it with the pears as you cut them)
- 1 tablespoon whiskey
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 egg, beaten
PEAR GALETTE RECIPE – INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Wrap your pie dough around your rolling pin (pretend you are wrapping paper towel around the roll after dropping in on the floor and transfer to a cookie sheet or pizza stone. Unwrap it on that surface so it lies flat.
- Start with the secondary cuts and make a circle in the middle of the dough (leave just enough dough to reach the middle when it’s folded over the pears. As you pile the pear slices, you’ll build several layers. The layers should be roughly even but you want to build a slight hill in the middle (you’ll see why in the next step)
- Using the primary cuts, stack the pieces so the bottom of the pear is on the outside of the circle and the top is near the middle (you build a slight hill in step 4 to compensate for the pear getting thin near the top). This will make the stack roughly equal. Layer the pears and continue the circle until complete.
- Roughly fold an edge of the dough on top of the pears. Gather the next piece and continue until finished.
- Brush with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes (checking after 15) until golden brown and crispy!
Now, what’s for desert on the weekend? 🙂