Christmas Cranberry Galette Recipes

Steps:

• Make the dough for the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust with modifications as noted above.
• Macerate the Cranberries:
• A minimum of 1 1/2 hours and a maximum of 24 hours ahead of baking, in a medium bowl, place the superfine sugar (reserve 1 teaspoon for the border) and the light brown sugar and use your fingertips to combine them and rub out any lumps of brown sugar. Cut each cranberry in half and add them to the sugar mixture. Stir the mixture well and set it aside for 1 hour at room temperature or, preferably, overnight in the refrigerator.
• Stir the cranberry mixture well, then stir in the walnuts.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. If not using a black pan, plan to bake the galette directly on the oven floor; alternatively, set an oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking stone or cookie sheet on it before preheating.
• Using a floured pastry cloth and rolling pin sleeve rubbed with flour, or two sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap,*** roll the pastry to a circle roughly 18 inches in diameter. Using an expandable flan ring or a cardboard template and a sharp knife as a guide, cut out a 16-inch circle. If the dough softens, slip it (still on the cloth or plastic wrap) onto a baking sheet and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes, covered, until firm before lining the pan. The pastry is too large to slip your hands under and support adequately. To transfer it to the pan, roll it loosely over the rolling pin or dust it lightly with flour and fold in quarters. Leave the overhang.
• Scatter the cranberry mixture evenly over the dough, covering a 13-inch area and leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the overhanging border of dough over the outer edge of the cranberries, using your fingers to pleat it loosely at even intervals. Brush this border with a little milk or water and sprinkle on the reserved sugar. (This will give the border a crunchy texture.)
• Cut a 10-inch round of foil and place it gently over the cranberries, leaving the crust uncovered. Bake the galette for 30 minutes.
• Place a second round of foil large enough to cover the filling and the crust border loosely over the tart and continue baking for about 10 minutes more or until the bottom crust is golden brown. (Slip a small angled metal spatula or flexible knife under the edge of the tart, lifting it slightly, to check doneness.) Cool the tart on the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes or until warm. Dust with powdered sugar.
• Store:
• Room temperature, up to 2 days.
• Note:
• A half-size galette can be made using a 9-inch pan. Roll the dough less than 1/8 inch thick and large enough to cut an 11-inch circle.
• Understanding:
• The challenge with this particular berry tart is to keep the cut cranberries from drying out without underbaking the crust, which would make it soggy. The solution is to make a temporary top "crust" from foil and to bake the tart on a baking stone or directly on the floor of the oven.
• Cutting the cranberries in half and allowing them to sit with the sugar allows them to absorb the sugar. With their tough outer peel, whole cranberries would retain most of their juices, so they would not dissolve the sugar fully. This would cause the bitterness of the cranberry to stand apart from the sugar, rendering the final effect too bitter and too sweet simultaneously.
• The crust must be prepared without baking powder, as the weight of the cranberrry/nut mixture would not be sufficient to keep it from puffing.
• ***You may have to overlap sheets of plastic wrap to roll the dough large enough.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roll the pie crust out into a 12-inch circle. Place the crust on a large baking sheet. Top the crust with apple slices and cranberries. Drizzle lemon juice over top. Sprinkle sugar over top. Pull up the sides of the crust slightly and roll over, covering the filling by about 1 inch.
• Bake 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender.

Steps:

• Remove the pastry from the freezer and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Leave to thaw while you prepare the fruit, but don't keep it out of the freezer for too long. It's easiest to handle if it's cold and will thaw quickly. You just want it soft enough so that you can manipulate it.
• Soak the cranberries for 5 minutes in hot water. Drain and dry on paper towels. Toss the sliced pears with the lemon juice in a large bowl, then add the dried cranberries, honey, cinnamon and vanilla and gently toss together.
• Sprinkle the almond flour over the pastry, leaving a 2- to 3-inch border all around. Place the fruit on top. Fold the edges of the dough in over the fruit, pleating the edges as you work your way around the fruit to form a free-form tart that is roughly 9 inches in diameter. Place in the freezer on the baking sheet for 45 minutes to an hour. This helps the galette maintain its shape.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the galette from the freezer. Brush the exposed edge of the pastry with the egg wash. Sprinkle the sugar over the fruit and the crust. Place in the oven and bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the juice is running out and caramelizing on the parchment. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Make the dough:
• Pulse flour, pecans, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until pecans are finely ground. Add butter and pulse until sandy. With the motor running, slowly pour in 1 Tbsp. cold water, then pulse until dough starts to clump together. Form into a ball with your hands. Tightly wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
• Make the filling and assemble:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring cranberries and whiskey to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat (or microwave in a small heatproof bowl). Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Strain cranberries through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding (or drinking) the booze.
• Whisk egg in a large bowl. Set aside about 1 tsp. beaten egg in a small bowl to use for brushing crust. Whisk brown sugar, butter, and salt into remaining egg in large bowl until smooth, then stir in cranberries and pecans.
• Let dough sit at room temperature 10 minutes. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to an approximately 11" round. Don't worry if your circle isn't perfect or the edges are cracked-that's okay. Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
• Spoon filling onto center of dough, leaving a 2" border. Fold dough up and over filling, overlapping slightly and using parchment to help lift the dough. Brush dough with reserved egg wash, then sprinkle generously with coarse sugar. Chill for 10 minutes.
• Bake galette until filling is puffed and set and crust is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. If some of the filling leaks out, don't worry-just trim that off before serving. Let galette cool slightly. Serve with whipped cream.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Coat pizza pan or baking sheet with nontstick cooking spray, then set aside.
• Set aside 1 teaspoon sugar, then, in a medium bowl, combine remaining sugar, cornstarch & cinnamon, blending well.
• Add pears, cranberries & vanilla extract & toss to coat.
• Remove crust from pouch, then unfold it, remove plastic sheets & place it on the prepared baking sheet.
• Spoon pear mixture in center of crust to within 2 inches of the edge.
• Fold edge of crust 2 inches over pear mixture & crimp slightly.
• In a small bowl, combine egg white & water & whisk until well blended.
• Brush egg wash onto outer edges of pie crust & sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar.
• Bake 25 minutes or until pears are tender & crust is golden brown. If edges brown too quickly, covere with foil after 15 minutes of baking.
• Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Bring the rolled pie crust out of the fridge and let it sit at room temp for about 20 minutes, or until soft (if you unroll it cold, it might tear). Unroll the pie crust on top of the parchment lined baking sheet.
• In a large bowl, stir together the cranberries, orange flavor, stevia extract, and vanilla paste.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the erythritol and cloves. Dump this over the cranberries and stir together. Scoop the mixture into the center of the pie crust and fold the dough over to create a galette.
• In a tiny bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and water. Brush this over the pie crust (you won't need to use all of it... you'll probably end up using about half) and sprinkle on the remaining erythritol. Bake for ~30 minutes, or until the pie crust is a lovely golden brown. Let cool, then slice and serve!