This Caramel Apple Galette is so simple and unpretentious, the crust is so flaky and the filling is just sweet enough, with the added flavor of the caramel made from the juices of the apples. The border is sprinkled with turbinado sugar, which adds to the texture with a slight crunch. It’s irresistible on its own and just heavenly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It surely doesn’t need it though.
About the pie crust
There’s not a world of differences between pie crust recipes, if you really stop to compare them. It’s flour, sugar, salt, very cold butter cut into small pieces (sometimes some chilled vegetable shortening) and a little bit of ice water, right? The method though, that’s what can really make it or break it.
My most common mistake has always been overworking the dough, even when I’m being very careful not to! You want to leave lots of little pieces of butter still whole scattered throughout the dough, which means you have to work quickly enough to not let it melt into the flour. Even if you succeed in that task, be careful when you’re patting the disks together before chilling them in the fridge too: patting them too much could mean you’re also overworking it.
If it happens, you’ll notice when you’re rolling out your dough, it might shrink back a tiny bit as you try to roll it out thinner, which means you’ve activated the gluten in the dough, just like when making bread dough! Difference is in bread that’s exactly what you want, you want to create elasticity in the dough. Not with a pie crust, you want it to be short, flaky, crumbly.
You’ll also notice your mistake when you’re cutting out your ribbons for creating a pretty lattice: if your already rolled out dough is not very cold, the cuts won’t be so clean, the slightly elastic dough might get stuck to your knife or pizza cutter and pull a bit, in a stringy way.
Why use a food processor to make pie crust
I’ve tried making several different recipes, I’ve made it by hand, using a pastry dough blender, and using a food processor. To me the food processor works the best: it’s the quickest, which means less work for you, less opportunities for the butter to melt into the flour and a smaller chance of overworking the dough.
Why use vegetable shortening in pie dough
Although butter tastes better, vegetable shortening brings an advantage to the table: it has a higher melting point than butter, which helps hold the shape of all the pretty decorations you decide to place on top of your pie while it’s in the oven. Try to go for a non-hydrogenated variety and definitely make your dough part butter part shortening, for the flavor.
Rolling out the dough
Handling pie dough while trying to roll it out and cut out ribbons and decorations can be tricky if it’s not chilled enough. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen and your counter, you may need to transport it back and forth from the fridge, so make sure you roll it out on a large piece of parchment paper or a baking silicone mat (like this) to make that job easier.
Sprinkle flour evenly over the surface where you’ll roll out your dough and place your disk of chilled dough in the middle of it. I like to sprinkle some flour on both sides of the disk and rub it to coat evenly. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes so that it’s not too cold, otherwise it’ll start to crack everywhere as you try to roll it out. Test it by poking your finger into it, you should be able to leave an indentation, but don’t let it get too soft.
Roll it out from the middle towards the edges in all different directions. If it cracks, massage it to close it up. Lift the edges and run your hand with a bit of flour on the underside of the dough to make sure it’s not sticking, and turn it occasionally as well. When you need to refrigerate it, just lift it by the parchment paper or silicone mat, place it in a baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.
Cutting out decorations (not the case for this galette)
To cut out decorations you also need the rolled out dough to be chilled. Test it by poking it with your finger, you should not be able to leave an indentation too easily. Take it out of the fridge, lift it by the edges of your parchment paper or silicone mat and place it on your counter. Use a ruler to guide a pizza cutter and get nice clean cut ribbons for a lattice, or use cutters with cute little shapes. Refrigerate as often as you need to keep it chilled enough, otherwise your fingers will deform the shapes as you try to handle them.
How to make the best apple pie filling
Lots of people use all different types of apples in their pies, Granny Smith, Rome, I like to use Fuji. I think it has a great texture and the right amount of sweetness, I don’t like it so much when the apple is too tart in a pie. If your apples taste more on the tart side maybe add a little more sugar to the filling.
So first you peel the apples and then cut them right down the middle. Lay them cut-side down on your cutting board and cut by either side of the core. Then turn the core part on its side and make one last cut to separate it and discard it. With each piece, cut slices about 3/8 to 1/4-inch thin (about 5 mm). Place them in a bowl, drizzle lemon juice all over them and toss with your hands to coat all the slices, this keeps them from going brown. Add the sugar and spices to them and toss again.
Transfer them to a colander and place it over the same bowl where they were, cover with plastic wrap and let them sit at room temperature for a couple hours, while they release their juices. This will prevent them from releasing their juices in the pie while it’s baking, creating a soggy bottom (read this with a Brittish accent, obviously 😀 – Great Brittish Bake Off fans will get it). I first learned about this trick many years ago from the Joy Of Baking.
Making the caramel
So after a couple hours that the apples sat at room temperature, pour the juices that the apples released into a glass container and taste a little bit of it. If you think it’s not sweet enough then add a little bit more sugar to it. Add a tablespoon of butter as well and place the container in the microwave for a minute. Take it out and swirl it around, place it back in the microwave for another minute. Repeat the process with 30-second increments and watch the liquid, it should start to thicken up a little. Stop when you think it’s at a good caramel consistency. Remember also that it’s runny because it’s hot, it’ll thicken up more as it cools. If it cools and you still think it’s too runny, reduce it (cook it) some more in the microwave.
Great! I think I covered everything. On to the recipe then! 😀
Caramel Apple Galette
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 158 g flour (1 1/4 cup)
- 85 g butter (3/4 stick)
- 45 g vegetable shortening (3.75 Tbsp)
- 18 g granulated sugar (1 1/2 Tbsp)
- 1/4+1/8 tsp salt
- 47 g ice water (less than 1/4 cup)
- 1 egg for egg wash
- Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
For the filling:
- 2 apples (I like Fuji)
- 18 g granulated sugar (1 Tbsp)
- 18 g light brown sugar (1 1/2 packed Tbsp)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter for the caramel
Instructions
Make the dough:
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Cut your butter into cubes of about 1/2 inch (about 1.5 cm) and place them on a plate, trying to not let them clump together. Do the same with your vegetable shortening, by spooning bits of about the same size as the butter and spacing them out on the same plate. Put this plate in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
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Measure your flour, sugar and salt and place them in the cup of your food processor. Process for a few seconds to combine them.
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Add the butter and shortening to the food processor in 2 or 3 parts, pulsing a few times after each addition.
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Add the water little by little, pulsing after each addition, just until the mixture starts to clump together. Open the food processor and squeeze some of it in your hand, it should hold its shape, but not be too wet.
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Dump the mixture out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, shape the disk with your hands and wrap it. Put it in the fridge for about 4 hours or overnight.
Roll out your dough:
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Take the disk out of the fridge and roll out your dough on a floured piece of parchment or silicone mat (read the more detailed explanation above!).
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You want it to be a circle about 3/8 inch (0.5 cm) thick.
Fill, shape and bake the galette:
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Preheat the oven to 370 F (190 C).
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Collect the juices from the apples to make the caramel (explained above).
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Toss the cornstarch with the apple slices and arrange them by fanning them out in a circular shape like the picture above, in the center of the circle of dough. Leave about 2 inches of dough clear so you can fold it over the apples to form the borders of the galette.
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Fold the edges of the dough over the edges, brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the egg wash.
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Bake at 370 F (190 C) for about 45 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
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Allow it to cool for about 30 minutes before you move it, to prevent it from falling apart.
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Brush the caramel over the apples and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This pie crust recipe can be made in a small food processor (3.5 cups).
[…] these little pies I used pretty much the same recipe as the one for my Caramel Apple Galette, you should definitely check it out for a detailed explanation on how to make pie crusts, the best […]