Fruit and Chèvre Galettes

To say I'm a fan of these things would be a huge understatement. They are super easy to put together and make you look like a professional baker. Also, who doesn't love goat cheese!? 

Okay, so I guess a lot of people don't like goat cheese. You should definitely not be friends with those people. These pastries can help you weed those haters out of your life. 

I will say that I've been able to convert some goat-cheese haters with this though, so it's worth a shot.

The original recipe comes from The Bojon Gourmet - and calls for rhubarb. I would definitely recommend trying it. It's so good, I've made three batches of it with rhubarb. And then, you can make your own variations as well - I made a version with apricot and blueberries too.

You Will Need:

For the Dough:

1/2 cup whole wheat or spelt flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick cold butter, cut into 1/2" pieces

1/4 cup ice water

1 egg, lightly beaten

coarse sugar

To Make Dough:

Combine the flours, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Scatter in butter and work with your fingers until some pea-sized chunks remain. Sprinkle in water 1 Tablespoon at a time, working until the dough comes together (you may not use the full 1/4 cup of water). Press dough into a ball and cut into 6 equal pieces. Roll into balls and flatten into disks, dust with flour, cover with plastic, and chill until firm, 30-45 minutes.

Remove chilled disks and roll to about 6" round. Stack, flouring lightly, and chill for an additional 30 minutes.

Meanwhile - prepare the filling:

For the Filling:

1/3 cup sugar + 2 Tablespoons divided

10-12 ounces fresh rhubarb, washed, trimmed, and sliced (1/4 - 1/2")

1 Tablespoon corn starch

pinch of salt

juice of 1/2 small blood orange (or regular) ~ approx 2 Tablespoons*

2 ounces soft goat cheese, room temperature

2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

*I actually had no oranges on hand, so I used fresh pineapple juice and it worked wonderfully.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup sugar, corn starch, and a pinch of salt. Toss in rhubarb and then juice. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. 

In a small bowl, mash together cheese, 1 Tablespoon of sugar, and a pinch of salt to combine.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Top each disk with 1 1/2 Tablespoons of cheese mixture. Divide rhubarb amongst tarts (make sure to save the juice!).

Fold up galettes by making pleats and working your way until you've created a cute little open-faced packet of happiness. I like to pop them in the freezer at this point for a little just to chill them. You don't have to, but you can.

Pour leftover juice into the centers of the tarts and brush the edges with egg and top with coarse sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes, then top rhubarb (or centers) with the remaining 1 Tablespoon sugar and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature - or store refrigerated and reheat before serving. 

You want to make sure you let the rhubarb sit in the sugar mixture for a few minutes to get some of that wonderful liquid. Rhubarb is my obsession lately! So tart and awesome - you could add strawberries, but I really love that rhubarb takes center stage in this tart.

With the cheese mixture and rhubarb on top. I do all the pleating and pop them in a freezer to stiffen up before I pour in the reserved juice and top with egg wash and coarse sugar. It does make life a little easier.

You can always freeze them and bake them off as you need - you never know when you'll be hosting a surprise brunch or guests and need some galettes in a pinch (how Ina of me to say, right?).

And during baking some of that sugar might leak out and create a gorgeous caramelization along the bottom edge. Go with it. Just be careful when you're moving the tarts to cool because sugar burns are no fun.

They're wonderful. Breakfast, brunch, tea time, dessert... just anytime any day. 

I'll be playing with some more versions, but like I said - be creative! When I made these apricot and blueberry tarts - I just saved a bit of the juice from the can the apricot halves came in. You can't go wrong.

Happy Baking!