Bosc Pear with Hazelnut Frangipane Galette
This is a simple and special dessert that comes together pretty quickly.The crust is very flaky, well baked, and buttery and the frangipane soaks up any of the extra pear juices further flavoring the galette. Bosc pears are some of our favorites and they are perfect for baking as they have a firmer texture than other pears meaning they’ll hold up and won’t break down too far in the oven.
This recipe is also quite flexible. Hazelnuts are delicious with pears, but if you prefer almonds, you can substitute the hazelnuts for almonds. If you don’t want to use pears, you could use apples, or frozen fruit like plums, cherries, apricots, or peaches.
Ingredients:
Crust:
1.5 cups All-purpose flour (213 gr)
0.5 teaspoon salt
10 T. cold, unsalted butter (142.5 gr) cut in 1/2 inch cubes
4-5 T. ice water
1 egg yolk for painting crust
0.5 cups toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped and reserved - for topping crust
Filling:
3 Bosc pears
1/3 cup sugar
Frangipane:
1 cup (135 gr) toasted hazelnuts
0.5 cup sugar (100 gr.)
1/4 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 cup (8 T. ) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg yolk at room temperature, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
0.5 teaspoon almond extract
For topping the crust:
1/4 cup raw hazelnuts, roughly chopped
3 T. granulated sugar
Place flour, salt and butter in the work bowl of a food processor. Using the metal blade, process in pulses until the butter pieces are no larger than peas. Add ice water through the feed tube - 4 T. all at once, pulse to mix and then add the fifth T. of water if needed to bring the dough together in a ragged mass.
Gather dough into a ball, press into a 4-5 inch disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
While the dough is in the fridge, make the frangipane.
Put hazelnuts and sugar in the work bowl of a food processor. Process until finely ground, but still retaining some texture - do not make nut butter! Add butter and flour, extracts and egg and process to a well-mixed, fluffy texture - do not over-process. Refrigerate covered for 1/2 hour or so.
Butter or spray a 9-10 inch cast iron frying pan. You can use any oven-proof baking dish or pan, but I prefer cast iron for the crisp crust it imparts. Line the buttered pan with parchment cut so it has several inches of excess all around - this is to make it easy to lift the galette out of the pan after baking.
Peel, quarter and core three Bosc pears. Cut quarters into halves or thirds - you will have 24-36 pieces. Don’t make the pieces very thin - err on the side of thicker. You want the pears to retain some texture after baking.
Take dough out of fridge and let it warm up for about 5-7 minutes and roll out on a floured surface until you have a circle about 15-16 inches in diameter. This will take a little time - the dough softens as you roll it. Keep the rolling surface and the dough lightly floured. Transfer the dough to the parchment-lined cast iron pan by rolling it up onto your rolling pin. Center the dough in the pan pan, letting the sides hang over the edges. Spread the frangipane over the surface of the dough in the pan bottom. Arrange the pears slices on top of the frangipane, loosely and evenly to the edges of the pan. Fold the sides of the dough over the filling, leaving the center open and brush the dough with egg yolk. Sprinkle the egg-washed dough with a tablespoon or two of granulated sugar and the reserved chopped hazelnuts.
Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and dough sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool, in the pan, for about 15 minutes before removing the galette from the pan to a cooling rack. Holding the paper, do this in one swift, gentle move.
Voila! You have an elegant dessert for at least 8. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or creme fraiche. Leftovers are wonderful for breakfast with coffee.