Salted Caramel Apple Galette

For Thanksgiving this year I put a design twist on my classic apple galette and it was a hit! Enough of you asked for the recipe that I figured I would draft an update that uses the below sliced apple segment design.

I also used copious amounts of salted caramel, which was a major win and emphasized the importance of lining your baking sheet with parchment in case theres a leak. If there is, it will burn and get smoky, but not having that mess stuck to a dish is a real gift!!

Crust Ingredients 

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (straight from the fridge, cut into 1 inch pieces)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar

Filling Ingredients

• 3 apples, peeled (I used granny smith, golden delicious and honey crisp for a mix of sweet and tart)
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp white sugar
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of allspice
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of cardamom
• Grind of black pepper
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp flour
• Egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tsp water)
• Raw sugar, for sprinkling
• Flaky salt, for sprinkling

Salted Caramel Ingredients (this makes more than you need but the extra is heavenly to have)

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Flaky salt

Steps

To make the crust, mix together flour, sugar and salt.  Using a pastry blender, “cut” in the butter. This means you’re almost mashing the butter into the flour with the blender, ensuring all butter is covered in flour until the butter pieces are about the size of peas or a bit bigger.

Then, splash in a bit of your water mixture (2-3 tablespoons) and mix it around with your hand.  Continue to add a little at a time and mix and squish with your hand until a large dough ball forms.  If you need to get a bit more binding, add a bit of water to your fingers to help it along.  Don’t feel compelled to use all the water, mix it in until just combined and the dough is holding together. Flatten dough into a disk and wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Once your dough has rested,  roll it out on a floured surface until it is just over a foot in diameter. Carefully transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate while you make caramel and filling.

Begin by making the caramel sauce.  In a saucepan, whisk sugar and water and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves, whisking occasionally.  Add butter and bring to a slow boil, cooking continuously until caramel turns dark golden brown.  Remove from the heat and slowly add cream (be careful with the steam).  Whisk together and pour into a bowl, sprinkling with flaky salt and allowing to cool while making the filling.

To make filling, cut 4 lobes off each apple (you’ll end up with 2 large and 2 small, or 3 medium and 1 small if you go in a circle). Slice each segment into about 1/2-3/4cm slices, keeping the sliced segments intact, like below.

Carefully place each sliced segment on a large plate. Squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar all over the segments and let sit for 15-20 minutes to “sweat” the apples, then drain excess liquid off the plate.

In a medium bowl, toss brown sugar, spices and flour until combined. Sprinkle about half of the mixture all over the apple segments on the plate.

Remove rolled dough from fridge and sprinkle 1 tsp each of sugar and flour in the middle of the dough, leaving a 2 inch border. Carefully take a sliced apple segment, dip the base in the spiced sugar mixture and place in the centre of the galette. Repeat with each segment, arranging as desired and gently manipulating the slices as necessary, until the bottom of the galette is covered, leaving a 2 inch border to the edge of the dough.

Drizzle apples with salted caramel as desired (start with about a half cup). Fold crust edge over the apples, pinching the bottom edge of the galette to make sure it all stays together and caramel doesn’t leak out.

Brush dough with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar and flaky salt for garnish.

Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes, until pastry is set and beginning to brown.  Reduce heat to 375F and bake for about 30 minutes, until pastry is brown and juices are bubbling.  Allow to cool for 2-3 hours.