Mulled Wine Poached Pear Galette
A galette is quite possibly the perfect pastry. Its charm lies in its rustic looks, simple assembly and the fact that it gives you the best of all pastry-worlds:
a pie-like crust
an open face that allows the filling to caramelise beautifully, and be on full display for the world to see
there’s no fuss of having to line a tin or blind bake the pastry.
They’re too-often overlooked for their neater and more technical cousins - the tart and the pie - but I think it’s time to give the galette the love it deserves!
And this galette is a thing of delicious, rustic elegance that celebrates the cooling seasons and autumnal produce. I guarantee it will warm you from the inside out.
The pears – an often-misunderstood fruit - are the star of the show here. They’re poached in a mulled red wine liquid, that is then reduced into a deep, sweet crimson syrup perfect for glazing the pears and drizzling generously over slices of the baked galette.
Of course, a galette is only as good as the pastry that brings it all together, and my flakey short crust pastry is the perfect partner here. It’s straightforward to bring together, easy to roll out and has just the right amount of golden flakiness when baked. The recipe below will give you two portions of pastry which you can use for another galette or a pie, or tart, or any pastry that holds a delicious filling. It’s incredibly versatile, so if you only try one pastry recipe in your life make it this one!
Watch my how-to video on Instagram
INGREDIENTS
Flakey Short Crust Pastry
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon caster sugar
225g unsalted butter, fridge cold, in 2cm cubes
100g fridge cold water
15ml white wine vinegar
Mulled Wine Poached Pears
4 pears, peeled, cored and quartered
500ml red wine
500ml water
170g caster sugar
2 Cinnamon sticks
5 cloves
Frangipane
150g almond meal
20g unsalted butter, room temperature
20g plain flour
75g caster sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
A dash of vanilla
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Assembly and to serve
1 egg for an eggwash
Course sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Vanilla ice-cream, to serve
METHOD
Flakey Short Crust Pastry
Place the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and mix to combine.
Tumble the cubed butter into the flour and use your fingertips to rub and squeeze the butter into the flour. Continue this until most of the butter becomes 1cm sized pebbles.
Add the water and vinegar and bring the dough together with your hands until it starts to hold together in a shaggy mess.
Transfer the mix onto a clean bench and continue to bring the dough together by using the palm of your hand to push the flour and butter away from you, as though you’re spreading the butter across the bench. Gather the dough back together and repeat the spread-and-gather motion until the dough comes together with small streaks of butter throughout.
Once the dough has come together in a single butter-streaked ball, divide the dough into two equal portions and form into two flat discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Mulled Wine Poached Pears
Peel, top-and-tail, quarter and core the pears and set aside.
Add all the remaining ingredients to a large heavy-bottomed pot and whisk to combine. Place on the stove with the lid on and bring to a gentle boil.
Add the pears and gently simmer for 20-30 minutes with the lid on, or until a cake tester passes through the pear pieces with no resistance. If your pears are different sizes, some may cook faster than others so be sure to take the smaller pears out sooner if needed.
Take the pot off the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the pears from the liquid and set the pears aside to cool.
Put the pot with the poaching liquid back on the stove on a high heat to bring to the boil. Continue boiling with the lid off for 30 minutes or until the liquid reduces to a syrup. Pour into a jug and set aside to cool.
Frangipane
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until well combined.
Assemble and bake
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (fan-forced) and line a large tray with baking paper.
On a well-floured bench, roll out one of the pastry discs into a circle approximately 5mm thick.
Place the sheet of pastry on your prepared tray. Spread the frangipane on the base, leaving a 2-3cm border of pastry.
Arrange the cooled pear segments in a circular pattern with the thinner end of the pears facing the centre of the galette. Fold the edges of the pastry over the pears.
Lightly whisk an egg to create an egg wash, and brush the crust of the galette. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (if using), and then bake for 45-50 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the frangipane is cooked in the centre.
Use a pastry brush to glaze the pear segments with the reduced poaching liquid to glaze, then leave to cool on the tray.
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, with a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a drizzle of the poaching syrup.
If you happen to have any left-over galette, store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. The syrup will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
