Apple Galette with Whiskey Caramel

I prefer galettes to pies — the filling-to-crust ratio is better balanced and the apples, exposed to the oven, are beautifully caramelized. The edges of the dough, folded up and over the apples, become browned and crisp, a perfect foil to the soft, spiced apples and sticky caramel sauce.

 Recipe by Catherine Neville

Apple galette

  • 2 Tbsp sugar

  • 1/4 tsp salt

  • 1 cup plus 1 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour, divided

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled  unsalted butter, diced

  • 1 large egg, beaten

  • ¼ cup brown sugar

  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 lb Golden Delicious, Pink Lady or other firm baking apples, peeled, thinly sliced

Whiskey Caramel 

  • 1 cup granulated sugar

  • 1/4 cup water

  • pinch cream of tartar

  • 2/3 cup heavy cream

  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • ¼ cup whiskey

| Preparation - Galette | Whisk sugar, salt, and flour in a medium bowl. Add butter and work with fingers until it looks like cornmeal with a few pea-size pieces remaining. Drizzle egg on top and mix with a fork until dough just comes together.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Form dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Roll out dough into a 12-inch round that’s about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer crust to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

In small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle some over the surface of the dough. Toss apple slices in remaining sugar mixture along with the flour and arrange apple slices so they overlap in the center of the dough, leaving a 1.5 inch border. Pleat the dough over the apple filling. Make an egg wash and brush the crust, then sprinkle with more cinnamon-sugar mix and bake until golden brown, rotating once during baking, about 40 to 50 minutes.

| Preparation – Whiskey Caramel | Stir, using a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula, sugar, water and cream of tartar together in a medium heavy saucepan until combined. Set heat to medium-high and cook. stirring continually, until mixture boils. While the sugar mixture is cooking, heat the cream, butter and salt in a separate, smaller saucepan until butter has melted.

Once the sugar-water mixture is at the boil, leave alone until it reached a golden amber color and then very slowly and very carefully pour the cream mixture into the cooked sugar. This will cause the sugar to bubble and sputter, so be very careful. Stir until combined and then add the whiskey, which will cause it to bubble again. Stir until the whiskey is incorporated and allow to cool a bit before serving with the apple galette. 

Catherine Neville