Hello Hive friends.
It's not often that I make desserts. I don't really have a sweet tooth. Once every so often I do like a little sweet dessert.
It's a bit of a pick me up, when you are trapped indoors, because of the weather. It's -10 today. Yes still complaining.
I guess the inspiration to make a pear tart, was the sighting of pears marked down in the mark down bin at the store. They were in good shape for dessert. They were also only a dollar for five. Obviously they would be chucked in the garbage if nobody buys them.
For this galette I use the basic pie crust formula. I'm not an expert at all, for these things. When I research recipes, they are all varied. I choose my amounts based on those recipes and what I feel may be right. I also cross my fingers and hope it works out.
Gallete crust
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour plus more to sprinkle on the mat
140g cold vegan butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 or 4 tablespoons ice water or as needed
I think it's well known that cold ingredients are required for a good crust.
Even though it's very cold outside, we have our heat turned on so it's warm inside. I wanted to ensure maximum cold for the dough, so I placed the vegan butter, the flour and the mixing bowl in the freezer.
Perhaps this is overkill but I am extremely non confident when it comes to anything using dough.
When the butter was hard and cold from the freezer, I began to cut it into the flour. My food processors have broken, so I have to resort to the old fashion way.
Fortunately I have a pastry cutter that I picked up years ago at the thrift shop for a couple of dollars. Anyway it's kind of satisfying to do by hand.
It is even better when Marc finishes the job. I get a break and at this point I can drizzle in a little ice water and vinegar.
When the butter was incorporated evenly, the dough was placed on my mat, and gently put into a ball. I'm careful not to knead it, or it will be too glutenous. I am aiming for a light and flaky pastry.
I liked the way it felt. I was quite happy with it, but we'll see later if it's okay.
I wrapped it up, and put it in the fridge overnight. I didn't feel like making it that day.
Pear filling
3 pears
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
Squeeze of lemon juice
1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup walnuts
Some people cook the filling first but in the past, I've made apple pies with and without cooking. I chose to not cook the pears first.
I chose not to peel the pears before slicing. If I'm using apples, I usually peel them depending on the apples.
I added the sugar, spices and the rest of the ingredients. To be honest I didn't know what I was doing anymore.
I was worried that I may break the pears when mixing. They were not really soft but they weren't really super hard either.
I was relieved that they held together after the gentle toss to coat evenly. Yay!!!
The next part begins the next day, with the assembly of the galette. I feel a little tense at this point. The reveal at the end is near. It's the part where I see if it turns out or not.
Join me on this epic journey into the unknown.
When I take the dough out from the fridge it feels hard. I am worried I won't be able to roll it out properly.
The rolling was successful, however, the dough was not big enough for the 5 pears that I had prepped. I ended up using around 3 pears. The rest will be a cobbler or something.
After grabbing the sides of the parchment paper to help fold up the edges, I realized it was very likely to be a success. The dough felt quite good.
Still a little tense, I brush the dough with a little soy milk. Then it was sprinkled with cane sugar.
My oven doesn't have the numbers on the temperature knob, so I put it at, what I think is 400F. I left it in until it looked golden around the edges and on top.
I have to admit, I was really please with this. It makes me want to keep making these, but I have to refrain from eating too much butter and sugar. The pastry was flaky and not over worked as I have done in the past.
I asked Marc to go to the store to fetch some vegan ice cream to accompany, but I had a change of heart. It was already a guilty pleasure enough. I let him off the hook. He was relieved.
Some fresh fruit and a couple of espressos were good enough.
Thank you for passing by.
