What’s up friends? Have you been enjoying the weekend? I spent the past few days in DC having way too much fun and eating way too much food. Cocktails made an appearance, as well.

I haven’t posted in a bit, y’all.  My bad, my bad.  Something you should know about me (besides being impatient) is that I can be a tad inconsistent.  I’m working on it, I swear. The problem is that I get excited…and distracted…by a lot of different things. My mind wanders, I wander and things that I was previously occupied with get left in the dust.

I’m working on it.

Despite my procrastination on posting this, plums are still in season so make this stained-glass-window-looking galette and serve it with vanilla ice cream and maybe some champagne, too. Fancy, fancy.

Let’s talk pie dough. Two things to remember: keep the ingredients cold & make every effort to not overwork the dough. The first step is to work the cold butter into the dry ingredients. I like doing this on a flat surface with a bench scraper but a bowl & pastry cutter (or as a last resort, your hands) will work fine. Break up the butter until you have acquired pea-sized pieces that are evenly distributed throughout the dry mixture.

From there form the dry mixture into a mound, making a well in the center to hold the egg yolk & vodka. Vodka makes an appearance because why not, but the real reason is that it reacts well with gluten, offering up a very flaky crust. Vodka: not just for cocktails anymore.

I cut these ingredients into the mixture with my bench scraper and slowly start to add my ice cold water. I add a little at a time, periodically checking to feel the dough.  You only want to add enough water until the dough is moist and just starts to come together.

Now it’s time to fraisage.

Huh?

Pronouonced “free-sajh”, fraisage is a French technique used to evenly incorporate the dough. Take a pool-ball-sized amount of dough and place to the side. Using the palm of your hand push down and forward on the dough-ball to make it one homogenous consistency. Sound confusing? Watch this tutorial: Fraisage

It’s very fun and may or may not reduce stress levels.

Now we pick up all our freshly fraisaged dough and form it into a disk. Saran Wrap goes around it and we put it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or so. A pie dough nap, if you will.

After the dough has rested in the fridge, roll it out over a well-floured work surface. I rolled my dough out to a rectangular piece that was about 15″x9″, with the thickness being about 1/4″.

Fill the center with the fruit, fold over the edges to hug said fruit & finish by brushing the dough with egg wash and sprinkling with sugar.

All I see is fireworks.

XO

Rustic Plum Galette

Ingredients:

Pie Dough:

• 2 cups flour, all-purpose
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup buter, cut into pieces & very cold
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vodka
• 3-5 tbsp ice water

Fruit Filling:

• 3 cups plums, sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar plus 2 tbsp for dusting on dough
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, fresh

Procedure:

Pie Dough:

1. On a flat surface or in a bowl, mix together flour & salt. Cut in the butter using a bench scrape or pastry cutter until the mixture has pieces the size of peas. Form into a mound and make a well in the center. Add the egg yolk & vodka to the well and begin to incorporate using a fork. Slowly add in the cold water, one tablespoon at a time, using the bench scraper to incorporate until the flour is moistened and starts to hold its shape when pieces of the dough are squeezed together.
2. Fraisage the dough.
3. Form into a ball and flatten so it resembles a disk shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, until you achieve a rectangle that is about 15″x9″ in size. The thickness of the dough should be 1/4″ throughout.
5. Place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. To help transfer the dough without breaking, wrap the dough around the rolling pin and then unroll the dough onto the baking sheet.
6. Refrigerate for 15 minutes

Fruit Filling:

1. In a bowl, toss the sliced plums, sugar and lemon juice.

Bake:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Add the prepared fruit filling to the center of the pie dough, leaving a 2″ border on all sides. Gently fold the edges of the dough over the fruit, pleating the dough, when needed, so the dough lies flat on top of the fruit.
3. Brush the edges of the dough with an egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
5. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature