Apricot galettes with chrysanthemum frangipane

These small galettes mean each person gets their own little pie with plenty of filling and crisp, flaky pastry. Roasting apricots transforms them, caramelising their natural sugars and bringing out a deeper, tangy flavour. Infused with chrysanthemum for a subtle floral sweetness, these galettes work just as well for dessert as they do for breakfast, picnics or afternoon tea.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• makes

  8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

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The Cook Up with Adam Liaw

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Cooking

PG

series • 

Cooking

PG

Ingredients

• 250 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 160 g butter, chilled, diced
• 115 g cream cheese, chilled, diced
• 40 ml thickened cream, chilled

For the chrysanthemum frangipane

• 15 g dried chrysanthemum flowers or 10 g dried chamomile flowers (see Note)
• 120 g caster sugar
• 60 g butter, softened
• 1 small egg
• 60 g almond meal

For the apricots 

• 15 g cornflour
• 30 ml lemon juice
• 65 g chrysanthemum sugar (from making the frangipane)
• 12 apricots, halved, pitted

For the glaze

• 1 small egg, lightly beaten
• 20 g demerara or caster sugar

For the vanilla cream

• 300 g thickened cream
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 20 g honey
• 20 g icing sugar

Chilling time: 1 hour or up to 2 days. Macerating time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. To make the pastry, combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor and process for a few seconds. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the cream cheese and pulse to form uneven crumbs, then add the cream. Continue to pulse until the dough just starts to hold together.
2. Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for a few seconds to bring it together into a ball, then roll into a 16 cm log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or up to 2 days) before using.
3. To make the chrysanthemum frangipane, place the dried chrysanthemum flowers into a spice grinder and blitz to a powder. Tip the powder into a medium bowl and add the sugar. Stir until well combined, then transfer 65 g of the sugar to a large bowl for macerating the apricots.
4. Add the butter to the remaining chrysanthemum sugar in a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until creamy. Mix in the egg, followed by the almond meal to form a soft paste. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
5. One hour before baking the galette, for the apricots, add the cornflour and lemon juice to the reserved chrysanthemum sugar and stir to form a runny paste. Add the apricots and mix to combine, then set aside until needed.
6. When ready to make the galettes, cut out 8 large squares of baking paper. Remove the prepared dough from the fridge, then slice into 8 x 70 g discs. Roll each disc onto a lightly floured work surface to 16-18 cm circles, around 2-3 mm thick. Repeat with remaining dough and refrigerate each disc between layers of baking paper until needed.
7. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190˚C fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Spoon around 2 tbsp (30 g) prepared frangipane mixture onto each rolled pastry circle, spreading with a small spatula and leaving a 3 cm border. Top with 3 apricot halves in the centre, then then draw the pastry border up over the fruit, roughly pleating as you go, and leaving a small area of the fruit-filled centre exposed.
8. Transfer each galette, still with the baking paper underneath, to the baking tray, then brush the pastry border with beaten egg. Sprinkle with demerara sugar, then bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven to a wire rack.
9. Meanwhile, to make the vanilla cream, whisk all the ingredients in a medium bowl with a handheld electric mixture until soft peaks form. Serve the apricot galettes with the vanilla cream.

Note

• Buy dried chrysanthemum flowers (readily available from Asian grocers), rather than ready-prepared granules, which are usually already sweetened. If you can’t find chrysanthemum flowers, chamomile flowers are a good substitute.
• Make sure all the ingredients for the pastry are very cold before starting. This will ensure it is crisp and flaky when baked. The pastry can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated.
• The frangipane can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept refrigerated.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.