rollin' in dough

i have used this recipe dozens of times and probably mentioned it here nearly as many. finally: galette dough.

i've made galettes for years, and until a few months ago i used a pretty straightforward recipe, quite similar to a standard pie crust dough. then, more recently, we started making seasonal fruit galettes at work, and i discovered with the same few ingredients (butter, salt, flour, and water) you can get a very different, absolutely heavenly flakey crust. here it is:

2 sticks of butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and placed in the freezer for at least 30 minutes (until quite hard and cold)
240 g AP flour
100 g cake flour
1/2 cup water, with 1 t salt dissolved in it and placed in the freezer to cool


you'll need some table room to work on. clear a space as large as you can on a kitchen table or counter.

dust your work space with the slightest bit of ap flour to work on. sprinkle the butter on top in a small pile; dump the 2 flours on top of that, and get out your rolling pin. you'll also want some kind of scraper to gather the dough. roll it out and scrape it back together until the butter has all been flattened into little pieces and the dough looks very shaggy, like the first picture on the left.



one you've gotten it all nice and shaggy, gather it up, make a well in the center, and pour in the water that's been chilling in the freezer. use your scraper to cut the water into the dough a bit before using your rolling pin to begin to roll the dough out into a long rectangle (as in the above photo.) use extra flour on your rolling pin to keep it from sticking, and on your table as needed. once you've got it all together, as a cohesive dough, even out the sides and then simply fold it up as you would a letter - 2 folds, in three sections. then turn it to the side, and roll it out again, the exact same way - long rectangle, then folded into thirds. roll out once more, fold it up, and wrap it in plastic and let it chill for at least an hour.

once you're ready to use the dough, roll it out into a big rectangle, with the dough about 1/4 inch thick. all the folds you've put in there give it amazing, flaky layers - it's almost like puff pastry, but without all the work and waiting between turns. simply cut up any fruit that's in season, sprinkle a bit of lemon juice on top (if it's something like an apple or pear) or else just some sugar, and bake at 350 until browned. simply incredible. i use it for savory galettes as well.

a wonderful and unforeseen consequence of a surprise half birthday party? friends unable to attend offer to buy you drinks! for no reason except that you didn't see them a night you hadn't even known to expect them! for such an occasion, i wear:



blouse: j crew
brooch: picked up at a little shop in red hook (for a DOLLAR!)
skirt: american apparel
belt: thrifted
tights: bought off a guy in the street (yes, but they were in untampered with packaging, i swear!)
shoes: oak nyc

wearing these shoes while i still can, before the first snow comes. i tremble in fear.


have a lovely night, all!

xo audrey