It’s the perfect time of year for a pear galette and do I have the perfect recipe for you. Inspired and adapted from the Weekend Baker by the lovely Abby Dodge.  Abby’s original recipes uses plums in her galette, though I made mine with pears. You can use any fruit you love or that is in season. You can also make a savory galette like this one.

It’s an easy go-to desert or main dish, depending on whether you go sweet or savory, for a weeknight meal or dinner party. This is a simple sweet that can be prepared in very little time and satisfy every palate.

I’ve fallen kind of hard for this pear galette. When I make it I like to poach my pears in a lovely blend of golden syrup, wine, butter and spices. You can do this up to 3 days in advance.

Also, if you’re in a crunch for time you can prepare the dough a week in advance or buy a store bought dough. You may want to prepare the entire galette in advance – just follow the directions below and freeze. Pop into the oven when you’re ready to serve.

Poached Pears:

4 whole Anjou Or Bosc Pears

½ stick Butter

4 tablespoons Sugar

1 cup White Wine

½ cups Golden Syrup

2 Tablespoons Vanilla Bean Paste

 

Dough: (Recipe adapted from the Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge)

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon of finely grated zest

1/4 teaspoon of salt

10 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cubes

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoon of cold water

2 tablespoons of lemon

2 tablespoons of cream or milk for brushing the dough

Preheat oven 400 degrees and position oven rack in the middle.

 

To prepare the poached pears:

For pears preheat oven 425 F. Slice off the bottom of each pear just enough so it will stand upright. Peel the entire pear leaving the stem intact and skin at the top; pat dry with a paper towel. Rub butter over the peeled part of the pear; stand the pears in a small baking dish and sprinkle generously with sugar.

Pour wine into baking dish, add golden syrup (you may substitute golden syrup with 1/4 cup honey or 1/4 cup maple syrup or 1/4 cup Karo syrup); add vanilla bean paste. Bake until pears are soft when pierced with a knife and well browned, about 45 minutes; using a spoon, baste the pears occasionally with baking juices, adding water as needed to prevent evaporation. You can make the pears a few days in advance, 2 to 3 at most.

 

To prepare the dough:

Combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt into a food processor and pulse briefly to combine all the ingredients. Add the butter cubes and pulse until you reach a coarse crumb like consistency. Add the water and lemon juice and pulse until dough forms, it will have a rough like appearance. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

 

Prepare Galette:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Slice pears into very thin pieces, set aside until ready to use.

I used a 13″ x 18″ inch baking sheet lined with parchment paper. It’s not necessary for the parchment paper I just like the ease of moving the galette from pan to serving dish.

After dough has chilled, unwrap and place on a lightly floured work surface and roll out to 15 inches in diameter.

Arrange the pears as you desire in the center of the dough, leaving a 3 inch border for folding.

Fold the edges up and over the pears to create pleats around the edges. With a little water, gently dab each pleat pressing down to seal.

Brush the pleated dough with some cream or milk. Bake until the crust has turned a beautiful crisp brown – about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Grabbing the parchment paper, transfer the galette to a wire cooling rack until warm. If you did not use parchment paper transfer the pan to a cooling rack.

Optional: You can make a glaze with complimenting flavors for your galette. For this pear galette I add a topping of glazed pecans or walnuts. However, for this one in the photo shown above I gently brushed mine with Lyle’s Golden Syrup and served with ice cream.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. I make it often especially during the fall and winter months. It’s very comforting and soothing and it makes me very very happy. Happy Fall!