There are only ten seconds in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
And one of those ways is in a bed of pastry cream galette, which does tend to go in ten seconds.
Enjoy.
Pear in a Bed of Pastry Cream
galette
Ingredients
Dough
- 280 g all-purpose flour (2 1/4 cups)
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 180 g unsalted butter cold (1 1/2 sticks)
- 5 Tablespoons iced water
Pastry Cream
- 236 mL whole milk (1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch
Fruit and Topping
- 4 pears conference, concorde, bosc or other large variety in season
- 1 egg yolk for brushing before baking
- Demerara sugar coarse light brown sugar
- pre-sliced almonds
Instructions
Galette Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add ice cold cubed butter, tossing to combine. Working quickly to avoid warming, use your hands to break up butter into smaller pieces, like coarse sand or small peas. I make all doughs by hand, but you may also use a food processor for this as long as you avoid over-mixing.
- Drizzle a few spoonfuls of iced water on mixture and toss to moisten. Continue adding remaining water until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers. To ensure a flaky crust, work quickly and do not over-process.
- Transfer dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Once wrapped, lightly form dough into a thick disk and refrigerate for 2 hours. During this time prepare filling.
Pastry Cream Filling
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring milk and vanilla to a gentle boil. In a bowl, whisk yolks together with sugar, cornstarch and flour until well combined. Once milk starts to lightly boil, strain a little at a time in a steady thin stream into yolk mixture whisking continuously to avoid lumps. Repeat, add rest of milk in thin stream and continue to whisk. Pour egg mixture back into saucepan and place over medium heat to bring back to a low boil, stir continuously. You will notice the mixture thicken, once it thickens and bubbles a little, cook lightly stirring continuously for a minute or so. Remove from heat and let cool. I had no film form on top of the cream, but should it form just remove carefully before using. If using cream same day, reserve at room temperature. If baking next day, refrigerate until ready to use.
Back to Dough
- After refrigerating dough 2 hours, divide into 4 equal parts and gently form each part into a ball. Lightly sprinkle surface and rolling pin with flour and stretch and shape into an oval. The dough should be stretched finely, not thick. Place the stretched pieces on a wire rack lined with parchment paper and refrigerate while you proceed to prep the pears.
- Wash pears and dry with paper towel. Cut in half lengthwise and using a knife or small spoon remove rounded central part with seeds. Turn pear (peel included) flesh side down and laminate (slice thinly) without reaching the top of the fruit to form a fan. Don’t worry about perfectly even slices. Repeat process with remaining pear halves.
- Spoon cooled room temperature pastry cream on each of the shaped dough pieces, leaving a little edge room without cream to fold over pears. Place laminated pear face down on cream. Fold edges of dough up to pear pinching and making folds as you go. Never mind perfect folds.
- Preheat oven to 180C/355F. Brush dough with beaten egg and sprinkle with Demerara sugar and sliced almonds. Bake 35-40 minutes, making sure dough is golden but not over-browned. I broiled them for a couple of extra minutes at the end, but must watch at all times to avoid burning. If you like, you may also sprinkle Demerara sugar on the pear itself after baking or brush with simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar brought to a boil and thickened).
