As the strawberry crops begin in earnest, Melanie Johnson shares a delicious treat that will help you make the most of them: strawberry and frangipane galette.
Strawberries are the indisputable jewel of a British summer. Even simply eaten fresh, perhaps dusted with a little sugar and accompanied by cream or ice cream they are delightful, but they can also make their way into a showstopping dessert such as this galette.
If the weather heats up (not seemingly likely given the state of the British summer at the moment)
Recipe: Strawberry and frangipane galette
Ingredients
For the pastry (or you can use shop bought)
- 200g plain flour
- 25g golden caster sugar
- ½tspn sea salt
- 175g unsalted butter, cold and thinly sliced
- 1 egg, beaten, to brush the pastry
- 75g flaked almonds
For the frangipane
- 75g unsalted butter, softened
- 75g golden caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 125g ground almonds
For the filling
- 600g strawberries, hulled and halved
- 3tbspn caster sugar
- 1tbspn cornflour
- 1tspn vanilla-bean paste
To serve
- Icing sugar to dust
- Vanilla ice cream and/or double cream
Method
Preheat your oven to 180˚C/160˚C fan/350˚F/gas mark 4.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Drop in the cold slices of butter to coat them and then turn out onto a clean work surface. Roll the butter into thin, long slices with a rolling pin, then use a dough scraper to scrape them off and continue bringing everything to the centre, rolling and scraping again. This method will create layers in the pastry, making it extra light. Sprinkle over 1tbspn of iced water (use more if it still seems dry). Roll again to a long rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up. Turn 90˚, repeat; turn again and repeat. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
Make the frangipane by beating the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beat again, then tip in the ground almonds and mix to a paste. Set aside until ready to assemble.
Prepare the strawberry filling by adding to a large bowl the strawberries, sugar, cornflour and vanilla-bean paste, and tossing to coat. Set aside until ready to assemble.
Roll out the chilled dough on a sheet of baking parchment to a 30cm (12in) circle. Place the parchment on a baking sheet and spread over the frangipane leaving a 5cm (2½in) border around the edge. Pile on the strawberries, then fold in the border around them. Brush the folded border with beaten egg and scatter over the flaked almonds.
Bake for 45 minutes, by which time the pastry should be browned and the fruit bubbling and juicy. Cool on the oven tray and dust the pastry border with icing sugar. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and/or double cream.
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