22 Gourmet-Tier Savory Galette Recipes That Will Stun The Dinner Table (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep bottom galettes from getting soggy? ›

Adding cornstarch to the fruit filling and brushing the inner crust with egg white ensures a perfectly crisp bottom.

A galette, if you're unfamiliar, is a kind of open-faced, freeform pie. The dough for the crust is the same as a traditional pie, but the structure of the dessert is different.

Pair savory galettes with a salad, or something light. Galettes are often on the rich and heavy side, so a side salad balances your meal. Serve savory galettes as a meal or an appetizer. You can serve large slices of savory galette as a main course, or in smaller portions for a delicious appetizer.

It's served in slices and can be eaten both hot and cold.

Make sure your galette dough is ⅛-inch thick. Thicker crusts are gummy and chewy, not flaky and crisp. Use the middle oven rack. Since galette dough is thin and baked directly on a sheet pan, it should be placed in an area of the oven that yields consistent, moderate heat.

If the fat melts before a strong gluten structure has formed, the pastry will end up soggy. Overly moist fillings can also contribute to a soggy bottom as the liquid will drop to the bottom of the pie and ooze into the pastry. To ensure crisp pastry, the base can be blind baked before adding the filling.

Crostata is an Italian term, and galette is French; however, by definition, you can use these terms interchangeably. They're referring to the same, easy and distinctly elegant dessert. By whichever name, this free-form pastry is always a great choice when you find yourself with a bounty of peak season produce.

I like to use pastry flour because it contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and therefore creates a more tender crust, but all-purpose flour will work just fine if that's what you have on hand. The “2” is fat. Butter is the most common type of fat used, but other solid fats will work as well.

This also explains the name of the dessert that's eaten on this day, the galette des rois, which translates to “kings' cake”. It's similar to the king cake served in New Orleans in the U.S., a nod to the state's French influence; but in France it's not multi-colored, and it's only served on or around Epiphany.

The galette itself is simple: puff pastry covering a disc of damp frangipane, hidden within which is a china bean or charm; the person who gets this charm becomes king for the day and is crowned with the gold-paper crown which comes automatically with the cake as sold in French pâtisseries.

What is hidden in the galette? ›

Every galette has a secret – tucked somewhere inside the galette is a prize. In early times, the prize was a dried bean, or fève. Over the centuries, the beans were replaced by all manner of trinkets, usually made of porcelain, but they've never stopped being called fèves.

Make ahead: Dough can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator or frozen for up to 3 months. Storage: Galette is best eaten the day it is baked. Store leftovers, loosely covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.

The “king” is represented by the fève, once a fava bean, now a porcelain or plastic figurine, hidden inside the cake. The person who discovers the fève in their serving is declared le roi (the king) or la reine (the queen) and gets to wear the golden paper couronne (crown) that comes with cake.

Opt for a lively and young wine, based on Chardonnay, or a sparkling wine like the Crémant d'Alsace or the Crémant de Bourgogne. Dry or semi-dry white champagne will also bring freshness and lightness to your tasting. The idea is to lighten the sweetness and creaminess of the cake.

Galette des Rois is eaten to celebrate the Biblical Epiphany. It is a religious feast commemorating the arrival of 'Three Kings' at the manger where Jesus was born.

Getting a brown, flaky/crispy bottom crust on your pie is all about quick and effective heat transfer. That's why aluminum or aluminum/steel pans — rather than glass or stoneware — are your best choice for baking pie. Metal, especially aluminum, transfers heat quickly and efficiently from oven to pie crust.

You can make the dough up to three days ahead, but this galette is at its best served the same day it was baked.

The website joyofbaking.com defines the term galette as "a French term signifying a flat round cake that can be either sweet or savory and while [recipes can use] puff pastry as a base, they can also be made from risen doughs like brioche, or with a sweet pastry crust."