Here’s a new galette recipe, the last of this rather indulgent month of January. While browsing Instagram (and after having already made a flower-shaped galette), I completely fell for the hazelnut-shaped galette by Pascalin the kitchen.
It was also an opportunity to test a new ultra-quick puff pastry recipe, almost magical since it requires no resting time. Here, I chose to make a hazelnut frangipane, not forgetting to add caramelised hazelnut pieces for extra indulgence.
Back to the puff pastry. A single dough, no détrempe or beurre manié as in Christophe Felder’s inverse puff pastry recipe that I usually use. But above all, here we do 5 single folds in a row without any resting time. For the puff pastry purists… I’m well aware that it’s precisely the resting times that allow the layers to develop properly and, let’s be honest, it’s true that the lamination isn’t as beautiful as a classic inverse puff pastry.
That being said, it still works pretty well, it does the job, it’s quick! I was able to make this galette in a morning. And then, what’s rather nice about this recipe is that you can colour the dough easily, since all you need to do is add the colouring to the water.
To make this galette, I used Pascaline’s template, which I reproduced as best I could (after 5 or 6 attempts, it’s a pain being a perfectionist LOL). I may have got a bit carried away with the size of the galette, since the template was made on an A3 sheet. But I found it really small on A4. It’s up to you depending on your needs. As I can’t provide you with the template, here’s how to go about it:
- If you choose an A3 format like me, stick 2 sheets of A4 paper together with a bit of sticky tape then turn the sheets over. Draw your hazelnut (with its little cap).
- Place an A4 sheet over the hazelnut’s cap so you can trace it (I held my sheets up against the window to see through them and trace without any trouble).
- You’ll then have an A3 sheet with the whole hazelnut and an A4 sheet with the hazelnut’s cap. Then cut them out.
The result is rather lovely. I may have overdone the egg wash a little, which explains the galette’s deep colour. It’s a shame because the contrast with the upper part of the hazelnut (the brown puff pastry) is less visible. I also scored the galette a bit too deeply, be gentler with yours 😉
Ingredients & method
8 components · Full recipe
Express Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 313 g (11 oz) cold flour
- 250 g (8.8 oz) AOP Charente-Poitou butter (or tourage butter)
- 8 g (0.3 oz) salt
- 150 g (5.3 oz) cold water
Method
1
Cut the butter into small cubes.
2
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all the well-chilled ingredients.
3
Mix roughly until you have a mass with not too many “crumbs”.
4
Flour the work surface, then turn out the dough and shape it into a rectangle with your hands. Roll it out lengthways with a rolling pin, taking care that the dough doesn’t stick to the work surface. Don’t hesitate to add a little flour, especially at the beginning.
5
Complete 5 single folds in succession, with no resting time between each. Remember to rotate the dough a quarter turn between each fold.
6
Wrap in cling film and set aside in the fridge.
Express Puff Pastry (Brown)
Ingredients
- 125 g (4.4 oz) cold flour
- 100 g (3.5 oz) AOP Charente butter
- 3.5 g (0.1 oz) salt
- 60 g (2.1 oz) cold water
- water-soluble brown food colouring
Method
1
Follow exactly the same method as above, but this time remember to add a little brown food colouring to the glass of water (and stir well to dissolve it).
Crème pâtissière (you’ll have some left over, but you can use it for another galette)
Ingredients
- 125 g (4.4 oz) milk (whole milk, preferably)
- 30 g (1.1 oz) sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) egg yolks (2 yolks)
- 12 g (0.4 oz) cornflour
- 12 g (0.4 oz) butter
- 1/2 vanilla pod
Method
1
In a small saucepan, heat the milk with the split and scraped half vanilla pod and half the sugar.
2
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until the mixture lightens.
3
Add the cornflour and mix.
4
Pour half the hot milk in a thin stream, whisking constantly, to loosen the mixture. Pour everything back into the saucepan.
5
Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens, about 2 minutes.
6
Transfer to a shallow dish and press cling film directly onto the surface. Cool quickly (the faster the cooling, the longer the crème pâtissière will keep).
Hazelnut Cream
Ingredients
- 65 g (2.3 oz) caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 65 g (2.3 oz) ground hazelnuts
- 65 g (2.3 oz) softened butter
- 5 g (0.2 oz) cornflour (personal addition)
Method
1
Put the softened butter in a bowl and work it first with a spatula to soften it, then finish with a whisk to achieve a smooth, creamy texture.
2
Add the egg and whisk to combine.
3
Add the caster sugar, ground hazelnuts and cornflour.
4
Mix with a spatula to obtain a smooth paste, but don’t whisk for too long. Press cling film onto the surface and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Caramelized Hazelnuts
Ingredients
- 125 g (4.4 oz) hazelnuts
- 25 g (0.9 oz) water
- 65 g (2.3 oz) sugar
- 2.5 g (0.1 oz) unsalted butter
- 1 pinch of fleur de sel
Method
1
Toast the hazelnuts in an oven preheated to 150°C / 300°F for about ten minutes. Remove from the oven, let them cool, then rub them to remove the skins.
2
Roughly chop the hazelnuts into small pieces (but not too small).
3
Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook to 118°C / 244°F. Check the temperature with a thermometer. If you don’t have one, look for small bubbles starting to appear.
4
Off the heat, pour the chopped hazelnuts into the sugar syrup and stir well until they are coated in a sandy white layer.
5
Return the saucepan to medium heat. Stir constantly once the sugar starts to dissolve. The hazelnuts will gradually caramelize (take care not to burn them).
6
Once golden, add the butter and fleur de sel and mix well. Turn out onto a surface lined with baking paper or a silicone mat.
7
Leave to cool and store in a dry place. You’ll have some left over, but it’s not always easy to make this kind of recipe in small quantities. Either reduce the quantities or snack on the rest =)
Frangipane Cream
Ingredients
- the hazelnut cream above
- 65 g (2.3 oz) crème pâtissière
Method
1
In a bowl, smooth the chilled crème pâtissière with a whisk.
2
Fold in the hazelnut cream and mix quickly. If you whisk the frangipane for too long, it will puff up during baking.
3
Transfer the frangipane cream to a piping bag fitted with a 1 cm (0.4 in) plain nozzle. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 2 blocks of puff pastry dough
- 1 block of brown puff pastry dough
- the frangipane cream
- caramelized hazelnut pieces
- sugar syrup
- 1 fève (trinket)
Method
1
Cut the plain dough block in half, then roll out both pieces. Using a scalpel, cut out two identical hazelnut shapes following the template you drew beforehand.
2
Roll out the brown dough block, then cut out the top part of the hazelnut with a scalpel following your template. Place one of the hazelnut-shaped pastry pieces on a sheet of baking paper set on a baking tray (this will make it much easier to move later).
3
Pipe the frangipane starting from the centre of the galette, making sure to leave a clear border all the way around (about 2 cm (0.8 in)).
4
Scatter the caramelized hazelnut pieces on top (I pressed them into the frangipane to avoid creating any bumps).
5
Place the fève towards the outer edge.
6
Using a pastry brush, dampen the border of the galette with a little water (the area without frangipane).
7
Gently cover with the second hazelnut-shaped pastry piece, aligning the two layers carefully.
8
Seal the two pastry layers by pressing with a fork, making sure to push the frangipane inward as you go.
9
Dampen the top part of the galette, then attach the brown puff pastry by aligning it correctly over the plain puff pastry. Seal again with a fork.
10
Leave the galette to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This allows the two pastry layers to bond properly. Ideally, wrap the galette in cling film and leave it in the fridge overnight.
11
Mix one egg yolk with a tiny splash of double cream (10% of the yolk’s weight in cream). Using a pastry brush, egg-wash the top of the galette once and leave to rest in the fridge for about twenty minutes. Apply a second coat and return to the fridge while the oven preheats. Be sure not to apply egg wash to the edges of the galette — doing so risks preventing the pastry from puffing up properly.
Baking the “Hazelnut” Galette with Caramelized Hazelnut Pieces
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
2
Take the galette out of the fridge and decorate the top using the back of a knife. Pierce several holes along the scored lines so steam can escape.
3
Bake the galette for about 40 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 170°C / 340°F and continue baking for a further 5 minutes. Keep a close eye during the final minutes to prevent it from colouring too deeply.
4
While the galette is baking, prepare a sugar syrup (bring 10 g (0.4 oz) water and 10 g (0.4 oz) sugar to the boil in a small saucepan, then leave to cool).
5
As soon as the galette comes out of the oven, brush the top with the syrup and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Gallery
