Pear and Almond Galette

I have a confession. 
Until now, I have never made pastry from scratch. I have however watched people make it, my last lesson via my friend "The Pie Belle" only a few weeks ago. 
She was a good teacher and made it look very easy, but I went away from the lesson unconvinced that I would be able to achieve the right level of flakiness in my pastry as she did. 
And besides (I told myself), what difference would it make to the overall taste of the pie or tart if I were to buy it? I have also been bestowed with unusually warm hands which (I have been told) are not conducive to pastry making. Yes, these small hot water bottles that I call my hands would melt a lump of butter hovering just 1cm above it - not really, but you get the idea.

Let's rewind a few days earlier when I had decided to make free-form tart/galette. I had been thinking about it all week and asking people what they thought of various combinations. This was going to be a pear, lavender and honey galette until a couple of people politely steered me away from the lavender citing that it would overpower the pear. Pear and almond it was...with a little bit of brandy.
So, with the filling idea taken care of and my good quality, store bought pastry sitting very proudly in the fridge, I was laughing. I could knock this tart over within the hour leaving plenty of time for photos and even share it with some people while it was still warm. 


Then Saturday rolls around (bakin' day) and after a leisurely sleep in, a bit of washing and a stroll to the shops I decide that: yeah, I might as well make the tart now. 
The filling took a bit more time than I had pictured in my mind (what I had pictured was basically something between appearing ready in the bowl in, say, five minutes) but that was OK because I had my pastry ready and raring to go.
Or so I thought. 
People, the pastry was mouldy, I am telling you there was a microscopic ecosystem growing there - and I only bought it three days before!
Here is where panic set in: there was no way I could make it the next day and there was two maybe three hours left of daylight. I was in an outfit that wasn't fit for public viewing (involving old trackie daks) and besides, there was no time to go buy any pastry and have the tart ready by sun-down. 
Then Stephanie called to me: "The answer you seek lies in heeeeeerrre", it was my old faithful The Cooks Companion. 
I found the recipe for shortcrust pastry where Stephanie had thoughtfully given a tip for those with hot water bottle hands: grate the butter. OK, I thought, this has to be done quickly and if it doesn't work out, well, I am just going to post another cocktail. 
Armed with my wonderful marble board and with Stephanie there to guide me, I was able to somehow create a ball of pastry! I did have to pop the grated butter in the freezer before I rubbed it through the flour, but I did it. A ten minute blast in the freezer and a roll out between some baking paper and in no time I had my pastry ready for the filling. 

The dough before I put it in the freezer to firm up 

I might have rolled it out a little thin in some places but I think it rated pretty high on the flakiness scale- if there is such a thing. 
So there you have it, I probably will never make puff pastry (we shall see) but at least I know I can make a mean short-crust, and in record time no less. I have also discovered I can whip up a galette before sun-down (just).  
I was also able to get this song out of my head.

**** ED- It seems a few of you liked the lavender idea! Challenge accepted. Stay tuned and in a couple of weeks I will have something Lavender related to share.*****

Pear and Almond Galette
Short-crust pastry* via The Cooks Companion By Stephanie Alexander


For the filling
6 Beurré Bosc pears - peeled and sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
Approx 3/4 of a cup of slivered almonds plus extra for the topping

3 tbs sugar
A "splosh" of brandy - optional
1/2 cup of almond meal
Juice the lemon into a large mixing bowl and add the pear, mix to combine- the taste of the lemon will not be visible, this is to prevent the pear from going brown.
In a dry frying pan over a medium heat, toast the slivered almonds, stirring constantly and transferring to a bowl when they have just browned, set these aside. 
Add the almond meal, sugar, brandy and slivered almonds to the pear, mix to combine and then set aside to let the flavours mingle and the almond meal to form a bit of a sauce. Preheat the oven to 180C.


For the short-crust pastry (for warm-handed folks)
*note: I am going to show this exactly the way I did it: for instance, Stephanie would chill the pastry in the fridge for 20-30 mins, I didn't have that time so I blasted it in the freezer for 10.
180g unsalted butter- very cold, straight from the fridge.
240g plain flour
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of water


Extras
1 beaten egg
sprinkle of sugar
Good quality ice-cream to serve


Using a cheese grater (box grater is best) grate all the butter into a bowl, the butter will go soft towards the end of grating, just pop the bowl in the freezer while you prepare the other ingredients.
On a clean board or bench, put the flour and salt. Very quickly rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mix has what resembles small pea sized pieces of butter throughout the flour. Make a well in the centre and add the water. With your hands or a scraper, work the flour and butter into the water until you have a rough, lumpy dough. Smear the dough across the board using the heel of your hand (it will be sticky) until the dough becomes smoother. Roll into a ball then flatten it into a disc. Wrap the disc in baking paper or cling film and blast in the freezer for 10 minutes (or fridge for 20-30 minutes). When the dough is firm, roll it out between two pieces of baking paper to approximately 25 cm. 
Score lightly with the back of a knife, an approximate 20cm circle. Place your filling within the circle and then gently bring the edge of the pastry up so that it folds over the edge of the filling. Go around the galette folding and pleating until the filling is completely encased in the pastry but there is a circle of about 10 cm exposed. Brush the edges with a  little beaten egg and sprinkle with a little sugar for crunch. Sprinkle the reserved un-toasted almonds over the top of the filling and back for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven or until the pastry is golden brown.
Once the galette is ready, transfer to a cooling rack before slicing up and serving with really good ice-cream.