Recipe: Pastry Chef Clémence Gossett’s Sweet Apple Galette

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Pastry Chef/Co-owner Clémence Gossett of The Gourmandise School makes her pie crust for her Sweet Apple Galette from whole grains.

Clémence Gossett at the Mill
Clemence mills whole grain flour. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

On this week’s episode of the Market Report, pastry chef Clémence Gossett explains the benefits of baking with whole grain flour and has some clever insider tips for those of us who might still be learning to bake with it.

Clémence shares her fall recipe for a rustic Sweet Apple Galette below. A galette is essentially an open-faced pie that you bake flat, sans a pie or tart tin. They’re simple to make and require no special equipment—just your cold hands, a cookie sheet and, of course, the most delicious apples you can find.

When shopping for whole wheat flour, try to look for stone ground, whole grain varieties, which you can pick up from Weiser Family Farms or Kenter Canyon Farms—both of which can be found at some of our local California farmers markets. Or, if you’re a lucky Angeleno, you can even visit The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories, where their in-house mill is open to the public, so you’ll get to take home with your very own freshly ground flour. Imagine that.

Sweet Apple Galette

Yield: Makes one galette

Whole Grain Pie Crust
Dry Ingredients
Place in a food processor or large bowl if making by hand:
2 cups whole wheat or Sonora whole grain flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
8 oz (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into small cubes and keep in the fridge or freezer until ready
¼ cup very, very cold water, plus another 3–4 tbsp nearby
Egg Wash Ingredients
1 egg
1 tbsp milk or cream

Whole Grain Pie Crust Instructions

1. If using a food processor, pulse your dry ingredients for a few seconds. Or, if you’re doing this by hand, simply mix the dry ingredients to ensure that the salt and sugar are evenly distributed.
2. Add your butter and pulse until you no longer hear the large chunks bouncing around. This should take between 8–10 quick pulses. If doing this by hand, use your fingers to rub the cold butter into the flour, or use a pastry cutter to cut the butter pieces into the flour.

3. Once you’ve flaked the butter into pebble-sized pieces (about the size of a fingernail), add the water. Pour into the food processor while pulsing, just until the dough starts to come together in clumps. If doing this by hand, pour the water in and, cupping your hands together, scoop the water into the bowl to create a shaggy dough. You may need to use the extra water, as your hands will absorb some of it. Once the dough just starts to stay together, as you squeeze it, you’re done. (Be sure not to add so much water that the dough feels sticky. If it does, simply sprinkle in a little more flour).

4. Gather your dough into a flat disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper. You can also flatten it inside of a large plastic freezer bag with a rolling pin. Chill for about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

5. On a well-floured surface, begin to roll out your dough. Once it is quite thin (slightly thinner than cardstock paper), transfer it to a parchment or foil-lined cookie sheet. Arrange the cooled apple filling (see recipe below) on the center of your dough, leaving enough of a perimeter along the edges. Bend the edges up over the filling, as much or as little as you like. Brush the edges with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375ºF until golden. So golden.

Sweet Apple Galette Filling

(This filling recipe can also be purposed for Apple Tatin.)

Ingredients
½ cup sugar
1 stick butter
4 apples, sliced (we don’t peel, but you can)
¼ cup apple juice or cider

Apple Tatin Filling Instructions

1. Without stirring much, melt the sugar in a sauté pan until it is golden brown.
2. Reduce heat and add the butter and stir until it has completely melted. Add the cider.
3. Add the apple slices and cook down until they are caramelized.
4. Remove from heat and cool before arranging in a spiral on a cold, unbaked crust.