Salty Maple Asian Pear Galette
Hey there! How was your week? The weather has been pretty cool lately and I’ve been really enjoying it. Any excuse to wear a sweater just makes me happy. My family received a crazy amount of asian pears recently and I’ve been trying to sneak it in wherever I can. Hence, this AWEMAZING salty maple asian pear galette.
What is a Galette?
A galette is a free form pie AKA a lazy girl’s pie. Making this the perfect recipe for pie beginners or anyone who wants pie everyday (literally me!). To start of, you lay out some pie crust, spoon your filling of choice then fold the crust over the filling (see pictures for reference). Voila! That’s it! No pie/tart pan required. Just a relatively flat surface where you can assemble your galette.
A word on Asian pears
Asian pears are quite different from European pears in terms of shape, flavor and texture. While European pears are slightly elongated, Asian pears are round, plump and crisp with pastel yellow speckled skin. They taste sweet, ever so slightly tart and are amazingly juicy when eaten raw. I also love baking Asian pears which caramelizes its natural sugars producing some good concentrated flavor.
How to make this Salty Maple Pear Galette
Step one is to make the pastry dough which is a tad easier than my go-to pie crust recipe. I use olive oil as my base fat for its flavor which complements the pears very well. Gather all the ingredients and mix them together to create a dough. Form into a disk and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Done. How easy is that!?
Meanwhile, you can thinly slice the pears and prepare some cinnamon sugar (YUM!). When everything is ready, roll out your crust, fan out the pears and sprinkle all that cinnamon sugar on top. The last yet crucial step is to dot the galette with a few cubes of butter which adds warmth and richness.
Just A Few Tips
- Feel free to use other kinds of fruits such as apples or peaches.
- Sift the flour when making the pastry dough. Some even recommend sifting twice (to be honest I barely ever sift twice but highly recommend). The fluffier the flour, the lighter and flakier the crust will be so sift away with the time and patience you have.
- Do not overfill your galette with fruit. I use a 9″ pie tin to make an indention in the dough so I know where to lay down the fruit.
- Cover up any tears/breaks with more dough or smooth it out with your hands to prevent the fruit juices from seeping out during baking.
- If your galette is still not as golden as you would want it to be, place it on a higher rack in the oven to encourage browning.
If this is your first time working with pie dough I suggest checking out this post for some more pie tips. Let me know how you enjoy this Salty Maple Asian Pear Galette by leaving a comment down below! I always love hearing from you!
Salty Maple Asian Pear Galette
Ingredients
Olive Oil Crust
- 250 g (2 cups) all purpose flour sifted (2x if you can)
- 26 g (2 tbsp) white sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 105 mL (½ cup) good quality olive oil
- 3-4 tbsp ice water
Asian Pear Filling
- 1 large asian pear* sliced thinly, ¼" thick
- 40 g coconut sugar/maple/brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 56 g (¼ cup) unsalted butter* cubed, cold
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- flaky sea salt
Milk Wash
- 1 tbsp almond milk , any milk will do
- 1 tbsp maple/golden syrup
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Create a well at the center and pour in the olive oil. You can use your hands/spoon to mix until fairly clumpy. Add in the ice water a tablespoon at a time, making sure not to overmix, until the dough comes together easily and is not crumbly. There will be a few streaks of olive oil which is ok. Turn out the dough onto your work surface, form into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or leave overnight.
- While the dough is chilling, combine the cinnamon and sugar and slice the pears. In a separate small bowl combine the milk and maple syrup for the milk wash.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). When the dough is ready, roll it out in between two sheets of parchment paper until 12-14" in diameter. Using a 9" cake pan, make a slight indent on the crust. Following the outline of the circle, fan out the pears in a pattern, sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar then dot with cubes of butter.
- Carefully fold the crust over to encase the pears. If any cracks or tears form, smooth them out with your hand or patch it together with the dough. Brush with the milk wash then bake for 30-35 minutes until pears are tender and crust is golden. If I have some remaining milk wash, I take out the galette at the 15 minute mark to brush the crust a second time. Drizzle the maple syrup over the galette and generously sprinkle with some sea salt. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes. Slice and eat warm with a scoop of ice cream. Enjoy!
Notes
Some items you might need
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