This year, we didn't have so many apples from our tree and I was busy baking other things and haven't had a chance to bake any pies or galettes.  Maybe the fact that it hasn't got cold till now is another reason.

So today, I'm craving some and started looking in my blogs for the recipe but found that I didn't write it down, so here it is -- so next time I can find it more easily :D -- This photo was the galette I baked a few years ago.  The recipe came from Too Much Food with the original recipe from Smitten Kitchen that I got from Rachel Chew's video below.

Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3 oz., or 84 g) unsalted butter, frozen, cut into 1/2″ pieces
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water

For the filling:
2 pounds apples, peeled, cored and sliced (save the peels and cores)
3 tablespoons sugar
  1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top of the crust (optional)

For the glaze:
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  Apple peel and cores

Directions:

1. Make the dough first: sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the frozen butter cubes with your preferred method of choice; I used a pastry blender, then my fingertips (though a food processor or two knives would work just as well). Make sure that you do this rather quickly, you want to keep the butter as cold as possible to insure a light, flaky pastry dough. No need to blitz the heck out of the butter; just cut it in until the biggest pieces are about the size of large peas.
2. Add the chilled water one tablespoon at a time, stirring with your other hand, just until the dough just holds together (you might not need all the water, depending on your flour and the humidity of your kitchen). Dump the dough out on a mat and pat into a circle about 1.5″ inches thick. Double-wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).
3. After the chilling period, take the dough out and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes; this allows the dough to soften slightly so that when you roll it out, it doesn’t break into a million pieces on you (trust me this has happened to me and it’s not fun nor pretty). Roll out the dough on a lightly floured mat into a 14″ circle, about 1/8″ thick. Using a pastry brush, dust off the excess flour. Carefully transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 F (205 C).
5. To fill the tart, overlap the sliced apples on top of the dough in a ring 2 inches from the edge and continue towards the center. To complete the tart, fold over the edges of the dough. It doesn’t have to look perfect, the beauty of a galette lies in its rusticity.
6. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the dough edge and 2 tablespoons of sugar over the apples. Use more or less sugar to your preference.
7. Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake the galette for 45 minutes, or until the apples are soft and have slightly browned edges. Try to rotate the tart every 15 minutes to ensure even browning of the crust.
8. While the tart is baking, you can work on the glaze; place the reserved peels and cores in a large saucepan with the sugar. Pour enough water into the saucepan just so it barely covers the peels and sugar and simmer for 25 minutes. Strain the apple-infused syrup through cheesecloth and set aside. Your kitchen will smell amazing at this point.
9. When the tart is done baking, remove from the oven and slide it (parchment and all) off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes before brushing glaze over the tart.
10. Slice and serve immediately, alone or alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you’re feeling decadent.

the apple galette from rachelchew on Vimeo

I just found this new way of preparing desserts with berries that has quickly become my favorites.   There are variations of crusts on the internet (like this one I found at Two Peas & Their Pod), but I used "Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough" for mine.

About Galettes

According to my bible, Joy of Cooking, a galette (French) - or in Italian, a crostata - consists of a flat crust of pastry or bread dough covered with sugar, pastry cream, or a thin layer of fruit.  The famed Galette des Rois, or Twelfth Night cake, is made with puff pastry.  Sometimes it is baked with an elaborately decorated top crust and filled with a rich almond cream.  Most galettes, however, are more simply made and rustic in look.  They are, in effect, dessert pizas.  Since galettes are baked on a flat sheet rather than in a pie or tart mold, they may be made in any shape that appeals to you.  If the filling is juicy, bring the edge of the crust over the filling to catch drips; otherwise, simply double up the crust edge, then crimp or flute if you wish.   Remember that the topping should be spare so as not to overwhelm the crust.

Ingredients:

1 recipe of Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough (see below)
2 cups mixed berries (I used strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.  I tried kiwi fruit too but it did not bake well.)
2 tablespoons milk (I used 1% milk and it worked well)
1/4 cup white sugar (if you like to leave specs of sugar on the crust, use Turbinado sugar)
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
 
- Make the crust f your choice.  For the Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough, see below.

- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 400°F

- Remove one disk of the dough from the refrigerator and place on a well-floured work surface.  Cut the dough into four equal parts. (most recipes said to roll the dough out on a sheet of parchment paper, but I didn't have it at the time. So I just rolled out the dough on the floured surface and gently transfer it to small sheets of brown paper I cut out of lunch bags.  It worked well.  I'll try parchment paper next time and will report back).

- Starting at the center of the dough, roll out each piece of dough into a circle, about 5-6 inches.  Place the dough with parchment paper on a baking sheet. Arrange mixed berries in the center of each galette, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold the border over the berries, overlapping where necessary and pressing gently to adhere the folds.

- Lightly brush the dough with milk. (Some like egg brush, but somehow, I don't like the eggy smell my crust seems to still retain even when the crust is done).

- Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon sugar on the berries.

- Place 2 small pieces of butter on top.

- Bake the galettes until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.  Let cool on the rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  It is best served the day they are made.

Me, I like to serve it warm.  Pile more fresh berries on top, and lightly glaze them with homemade syrup or jam (In this case, I used apple syrup that I made the other day).  Place a scoop or two of vanilla bean ice cream on the side, and I'm in heaven :).



Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough 
(Makes about 8 mini galettes)

I like to make mine the old fashion way.  You can also make it in a food processor.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon white sugar or 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold salted butter
1/8 cup solid vegetable shortening
3-4 tablespoon ice water

- Using a rubber spatula, thoroughly mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

- Working quickly to prevent softening, cut the butter into 1/4-inch pieces  Add the butter to the dry ingredients.  Using a pastry blender or two knives, chop the butter into pea-sized pieces.

- With a few quick swipes of the pastry blender, cut the shortening into large chunks and distribute throughout the bowl.  Continue to chop with the pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces.  Do not let the mixture soften and begin to clump; it must remain dry and powdery.

- Drizzle over the flour and fat mixture, the ice water.  Cut with the blade side of the rubber spatula until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls.  Press down on the dough with the flat side of the spatula.  If the balls of dough stick together, you have added enough water; if they do not, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of ice water over the top.  Cut in the water, then press with your hands until the dough coheres.  The dough should look rough, not smooth.

-  Divide the dough in half, press each half into a round flat disk, and wrap tightly in plastic.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 day before rolling.  The dough can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months; thaw completely before rolling.  (Note: I myself find freshly made dough rolls best after a couple of hours).

Something Extra:
I also found a nice video done by Rachelchew posted by Sarah Fritzler and would like to post it here for more ideas.  Happy baking ♥♥♥.