After the hazelnut and lemon galette des rois, I’m now giving you a new galette des rois (King cake) recipe that makes a change from the traditional almond galette, once again. This time, I wanted to make a recipe with pecans (my current obsession) and caramelised apples.
It was when I saw the recipe by Carine from the blog Chic, chic, chocolat that I wanted to pair it with caramelised apples (Carine had made a walnut and caramelised apple galette). So I blitzed some pecans to get a (fairly coarse) powder, which I used to make the cream. Here, I did 2/3 pecan powder and 1/3 ground almonds. If you don’t want the pecan to be too strong in the mouth, you can do 50/50. I once again used Christophe Felder’s hazelnut galette recipe, replacing the ground hazelnuts with this pecan/almond powder mix along with a little pecan praline for extra indulgence.
This galette was made with an inverse puff pastry, which I told you about in my previous galette article. The only difference is in the look; it’s a little less perfect than my hazelnut lemon galette since, to be completely honest, it opened up a little during baking. That’s what gives it this slightly irregular look ???? It’s also because this year, I took the risk of not crimping the edges of my galette (let’s be crazy!) but I had only made a tiny hole in the centre. I recommend making a proper hole in the centre, which will act as a chimney so the steam can escape. But don’t hesitate to make 3/4 other little holes in the galette (along the scoring), and that’s what I had forgotten to do.
As for the tasting, it was a huge success! And yet, my sweetheart, like the friends we shared this galette with, are rather fond of tradition and almond. But the pecan and caramelised apple combination bowled them over! That’s exactly why I’m not waiting a week to share a new galette recipe with you.
Ingredients & method
6 components · Full recipe
Caramelised Apples
Ingredients
- 1 Golden apple
- a little butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Method
1
Peel and cut the apple into small cubes.
2
In a frying pan, sauté the butter with the apple pieces for 5 minutes.
3
Add the sugar and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes until the apples are nicely caramelised. They should be soft and tender.
Pastry Cream (there will be leftovers you can use for another galette)
Ingredients
- 125 g (4.4 oz) whole milk (preferably)
- 30 g (1.1 oz) sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) egg yolks (2 yolks)
- 12 g (0.4 oz) cornstarch
- 12 g (0.4 oz) butter
- 1/2 vanilla pod
Method
1
In a small saucepan, heat the milk with the split and scraped vanilla pod and half the sugar.
2
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale.
3
Add the cornstarch and mix.
4
Pour half the hot milk in a thin stream, whisking constantly, to loosen the cream. Pour everything back into the saucepan.
5
Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens, about 2 minutes.
6
Transfer to a dish and cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface. Cool quickly (the faster it cools, the longer the pastry cream will keep).
Pecan Cream
Ingredients
- 65 g (2.3 oz) icing sugar
- 1 egg
- 45 g (1.6 oz) pecan powder (blend the pecans)
- 20 g (0.7 oz) ground almonds
- 50 g (1.8 oz) softened butter
- 15 g (0.5 oz) pecan paste (or pecan praline)
- 5 g (0.2 oz) cornstarch
- 5 g (0.2 oz) kirsch (optional)
- 1 pinch of fleur de sel
Method
1
Blend the pecans to a powder (be careful not to over-blend — a few short pulses will do).
2
Toast the pecan powder in the oven for about 15 minutes at 150°C / 300°F. Leave to cool.
3
Place the softened butter in a bowl and work it first with a spatula, then finish with a whisk until you have a smooth, creamy texture.
4
Add the pecan paste (or pecan praline), cornstarch and the egg. Mix with the whisk.
5
Then add the sifted icing sugar, kirsch and the powders (almond and pecan).
6
Mix with a spatula until you have a smooth paste, but don’t over-mix. Refrigerate.
Pecan Frangipane Cream
Ingredients
- 65 g (2.3 oz) pastry cream
Method
1
In a bowl, loosen the cooled pastry cream with a whisk.
2
Fold the pastry cream into the pecan cream and mix quickly. If you whisk the frangipane for too long, it will puff up during baking.
3
Place the pecan frangipane cream in a piping bag fitted with a plain 1 cm (0.4 in) nozzle. Refrigerate until assembly.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 2 discs of inverted puff pastry, between 250 and 300 g (10.6 oz) per piece (or 2 shop-bought puff pastry sheets)
- a drizzle of salted butter caramel (optional)
- 1 fève (lucky charm)
Method
1
Cut out 2 discs of inverted puff pastry, 24 cm (9.4 in) in diameter.
2
Place one disc of pastry on a sheet of baking parchment, which itself is placed on a baking tray (this will make it much easier to move later).
3
Pipe the pecan frangipane in a spiral starting from the centre of the galette. Leave about 3 cm (1.2 in) free around the edge.
4
Carefully arrange the caramelised apples on top of the frangipane.
5
Add a thin drizzle of homemade salted butter caramel (it’s fine without it).
6
Dampen the edge of the galette with a little water (the area without frangipane).
7
Carefully cover with the second disc of puff pastry, aligning the two layers correctly.
8
Seal the two discs of pastry by pressing gently, being careful to push the frangipane inward. You can crimp the pastry with a knife to prevent the galette from opening (using the back of a small knife, make notches all around the edge). Allow the galette to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This allows the 2 discs to bond properly together.
Baking
Ingredients
- sugar syrup
Method
1
Take the galette out and turn it over, flat side up (the rounded side is therefore in contact with the baking parchment).
2
Mix an egg yolk with a tiny bit of double cream and some caramel brown food colouring (usually 4 g (0.1 oz) of cream per yolk).
3
Brush the top of the galette once and leave to rest in the fridge for about twenty minutes. Brush a second time and refrigerate while preheating the oven. Take care not to get any egg yolk on the edges, as this would prevent the pastry from rising properly. Preheat the oven to 170°C / 340°F.
4
Remove the galette from the fridge and pierce a hole right in the middle to allow the steam to escape.
5
Decorate the top of the galette with the back of a knife (use the hole in the centre as a starting point).
6
Bake the galette for about 35–40 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 160°C / 325°F and continue baking for 5 more minutes (or longer if needed). Keep a close eye during the last few minutes to prevent over-browning.
7
While the galette is baking, prepare a sugar syrup (boil 20 g (0.7 oz) water and 20 g (0.7 oz) sugar in a saucepan, then leave to cool).
8
As soon as it comes out of the oven, brush the top with the syrup and leave to cool on a rack.
Gallery
