Gourmet's Apricot Galette

There's nothing simpler than making a galette. Savory or sweet, puff pastry or pie pastry, they're a delight to the eyes and a treat for the palate. I love the country look of an apple galette made with pie pastry and the elegance of a fruit galette made with puff pastry. Both are a snap to do now that we have both frozen puff pastry and packaged pie dough. Although I must be honest and say I usually make my own pie pastry, there is nothing wrong with using the packaged variety when you're in a hurry or don't want to waste the time indoors on a beautiful  summer day.

I made some individual galettes for a friend last week with Rainier cherries and others with black cherries using Cannelle-Vanille's recipe and her delicious sugar dough.  I made a banana galette too, because I had some dough left over AND some ripe bananas on the counter. My grandmother used to make these (but she never called them by the fancy French name of galette) when she had leftover dough from a pie. I just sprinkled a little sugar and cinnamon on the bananas like she did. That brought back some sweet memories. Kids love these little "leftover" banana gems. They can pick them up like a cookie and eat them outside.
 

So, when I had some lovely apricots left over from my apricot sorbet, I made Gourmet's Apricot Galette with frozen puff pastry. With a dollop of sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream, it's the perfect summer dessert.

Apricot Galette
Gourmet Magazine, June 1999

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sliced, toasted almonds
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
6 fresh apricots (preferably underripe and very tart)
half a 17 1/4-ounce package frozen puff pastry sheets (1 sheet), thawed overnight in fridge
4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Method:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a food processor pulse almonds with confectioners' sugar until finely ground.
Halve and pit apricots and cut into 1/8-inch-thick wedges.
On a lightly floured surface unfold pastry sheet and cut out a 9-inch round. Transfer round to a baking pan lined with parchment paper and prick pastry all over with a fork. Spoon almond mixture evenly over pastry, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Decoratively arrange apricot wedges, overlapping them, on top of almond mixture and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake galette in middle of oven until edges are golden brown, about 30 minutes. With a spatula transfer galette to a rack to cool.
Serve with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.

Serves 6-8