Peaches and Blueberries

It's a bit past the season for blueberries here in Sonoma Co., so this isn't exactly seasonal, but peaches are still in season here and I bought some at the local farmers market that were just a tiny bit unripe, but still delicious. I decided to make a gallette to take for dessert at a dinner party a few days ago. I followed the usual method of rolling the dough out to at least 12-inches in diameter.

For the filling, I first put dry unseasoned bread crumbs in a thin layer on the bottom from the middle, having it about 8-inches in diameter. In a bowl I combined 2 Tablespoons flour, with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons brown sugar. I grated in about 1/8 teaspoon fresh nutmeg and mixed it all together with clean hands. I had already prepared the peaches by peeling, pitting, slicing, and cutting the slices into three pieces per slice. The blueberries just needed rinsing. I used about 1 cup blueberries and 5 medium peaches. The 6th peach was just sliced to use for topping. Except for the topping peaches, the fruit was put into the bowl with the thickeners, then tossed with clean hands to coat.

The peach and berry mixture was then mounded in the center of the dough circle and gently arranged over the bread crumbs. The peach slice topping pieces were arranged over that and then the uncovered dough was folded up over the peach mixture. I used wet clean hands for that. The moisture allowed me to pleat the dough and sort of glue the folds into place.

The last step, besides preheating the oven to 400 degrees F., was to make a glaze by beating an egg, then brushing it over the dough. A sprinkle of plain sanding sugar over the egg glaze and the fruit was the last touch. Into the preheated oven it went for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, the oven was reduced to 350 degrees F. The gallette baked for another 20 minutes. By that time it was gently browned and the juices had broken through the crust at one place.

The final bit was to take some marmalade, warm it in the microwave, put it into a fine mesh small sieve, push the jelly part through to a small bowl and then use the warm jelly and a small pastry brush to glaze the peaches in the topping. You can skip that part, but it really adds a nice shine and makes it look professional. I used about a tablespoon marmalade.

You can use any fruit filling you like - it takes about 5 cups of fruit. If the fruit is juicy, be sure to coat with some flour/cornstarch mixture. Sugar is optional and depends on the sweetness of your fruit.

It's easy enough for a young person to do but it's always a welcome treat and there is never any left!