Photos and recipe courtesy of pastry studio
Before you leave behind the flip flops and backyard barbecues, here’s one final huzzah! Figs, like many fruit, have two growing seasons. You might have noticed them popping up again in stores and farmers’ markets, because they bear fruit both during late spring and in late summer. Fold up all the goodies of summer, like figs and berries, into a rustic galette. Summer isn’t over yet, and this sweet, flaky dessert proves it!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 oz butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup chilled water
- 1 1/2 lb fresh mission figs, sliced in quarters
- 1 pint raspberries
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar, to taste
- melted butter and sugar for finishing
Directions
- Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have some small pieces and some a bit larger. Be sure to coat each piece with flour. Add the cold water and mix gently, using a pastry scraper to fold the dough onto itself two or three times.
- Gather the dough without mixing too much or applying a lot of pressure or squishing it too much. It will look a bit of a mess and you will wonder how it will ever transform into anything useful, but resist the temptation to overwork it.
- Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap. Gather tightly and chill thoroughly.
- When the dough is ready to roll, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Let the chilled dough rest on a lightly floured board for a few minutes so it can soften just a bit to prevent cracking. Then roll the dough out to a 14” circle about 1/8”thick, moving the dough and keeping the board lightly floured as needed. When you have the desired shape, lift the pastry onto a parchment covered pizza sheet pan. Chill for about a half hour.
- Place the figs in a bowl and toss with sugar. Gently incorporate the raspberries and place the fruit onto the surface of the pastry, leaving about a 2” border all the way around. Neaten up your pile so the fruit is evenly distributed. (Alternatively, you can carefully arrange a pattern of figs and add the raspberries last.)
- Now start to lift and gather the dough up and on top of the fruit, being careful not to create any cracks. Work with both hands, one keeping the folded dough in place and the other doing the pleating. Brush the border of dough with butter and dust the dough and the fruit with a last sprinkle of sugar.
- Bake for about 40 – 50 minutes, until the dough is crisp and browned. Cool on a wire rack to keep the bottom crunchy.