Fresh Fig and Frangipane Whole Wheat Galette | Beating the Odds

Scrolling through my Instagram feed, I thought to myself what a pretty galette. Instantly, I wanted to make one too. I started looking at a few recipes to see how feasible it would be to bake one and blog about it too, while managing Ali. I was going to spend the weekend at my folks’ place and figured I would have a few hours free from chores. I wanted to make my Pate Brisee crust from wholewheat. Most recipes I read said that it could be made unto 4 days in advance. So all I had to think about was fresh seasonal fruit.

I remember a few summers ago seeing fresh figs and wondering what fruit it was I was looking at. Reading the placard I was surprised. To me figs were the earthen coloured nuggets wrinkled by sunshine. Not smooth skinned in deep purple hues. When I went to the supermarket, I sifted through a mountain of fresh figs, prodding them gently for ripeness. I looked at the three ladies swiftly picking up one fig after the other faster than their conversation in Mandarin. I carefully made sure I didn’t pick out the ones they’d rejected and ensured that the skin was intact and free from rips and tears in each one of them. Post dinner, I washed one fruit under water and rubbed its leathery violet skin. Before I thought of removing the skin and having just the flesh, my mouth was full with my first fresh fig. I loved it. It’s skin was a bit chewy and I was afraid it would be hard to swallow. However once I tasted the sweet tender flesh and the crunch from the millions of encased seeds, all was forgotten.

So Ali had different plans. On a Thursday night, I put him to sleep and worked on my pastry at 10pm. It came together so quickly and I was hopeful that I could make it in time for lunch next day. The galette came together, almost miraculously, on Saturday afternoon. He would either wake up earlier from the naps or wouldn’t play after his meals. Then again, it had been a month since I visited home after our vacation in India. He didn’t want to lose sight of me and wasn’t happy being carried by anyone but his Dad or me. And so he was by my side. All the preparations were done under his watchful gaze.

I had decided to make a wholewheat crust thinking that I would use it the next day. The prepared dough rested in the refrigerator for two days and this little baking fairy voice inside me nagged on and on that I should have just stuck to flour and there was no need to ‘attempt’ to make it wholesome and that it would be dry, tough and tasteless. Well, I had started out anyway so I shut her out and started rolling my dough. Ali decided he wanted to nap half an hour earlier. 15 minutes later, I kissed him in his cot and tiptoed downstairs into the kitchen. A little hope glimmered once I started rolling out the the dough and watched it widening smoothly under the weight of the rolling pin. Humming to myself, I gently transferred the dough onto my baking sheet. Once I started arranging the figs concentrically on my galette I realised I forgot to prepare the frangipane. Cue Saw music.

For the next half an hour I was on Chopped, against Ali’s nap clock. I was so close and I had to finish what I had started. I took my almonds and chopped them hastily with skin intact. I had no time to spare to cream butter separately and started creaming it in the grinder (!!!) with the almond and sugar. Halfway through, I realised that there wouldn’t be enough space to blend an egg. Eggless frangipane it is then. All that processor racket had woken Ali. I plopped tablespoons of the almond cream on the dough, threw the figs on top of one another – no time for circles now – and crimped the border as fast as I could. The dough had to rest for an hour in the refrigerator as this helps with the flakiness of the crust.

So, I forgot the egg wash and sugar on the crust bit. My galettes were ready 10 minutes earlier than the recommended time and I’m presuming using wholewheat was the reason, as it cooked faster than regular flour would. The crust was flaky and a bit crunchy in some parts. Next time, I will try adding a bit more butter to make it better. Although the figs were quite sweet, my first bite into the galette wasn’t. I drizzled Cinnamon and Sesame seed infused raw honey by Balqees all over my slice. It was the pairing of the fig juices and the frangipane I savoured. And I had the last slice watching Ali smirking in his siesta. Ambrosia.

Fresh Fig and Frangipane Wholewheat Crust

Recipe adapted from A Sweet Spoonful

INGREDIENTS 

Wholewheat Pate Brisee Crust

• 1 ¼ cups wholewheat flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, cold, in small cubes
• 3-5 tablespoons ice-cold water

Filling

• 8 ripe fresh figs, de-stemmed and sliced horizontally
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• A pinch of salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, cold, in small cubes
• 3-5 tablespoons ice-cold water

METHOD

Galette Crust

• Place the wholewheat flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
• Add the cubes of butter and quickly pulse till large crumbs start to form.
• Add the ice-cold water through the feed tube while using long pulses until the dough comes together and sticks together when you squeeze it inbetween two fingertips.
• Add 1 or 2 tablespoons more water if the mixture is too crumbly.
• Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and pat into a round disk.
• Wrap tightly and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 4 days.

Frangipane

• In a food processor, combine the almonds with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and process until finely ground.
• Whip butter using a whisk or electric beater until creamy.
• Add the remaining sugar and mix together.
• Add the ground almond-sugar mixture and salt.
• Beat until thoroughly combined.
• Add the milk and mix until light and fluffy.

Assembly

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Take the dough out of the refrigerator and slice into 4 even triangles.
• Flour your work surface and your rolling pin.
• Beginning with one piece of dough, quickly form it into a round shape using your hands.
• With a rolling pin, roll out into a 7-8 inch rounds, about 1/4-inch thick.
• Place each dough round on lined baking sheet.
• Spoon almond frangipane in the center of each dough circle.
• Arrange the figs in the center, leaving a 2-inch border around the edge.
• Lift the pastry edge and fold over filling to make crimped border.
• Once galettes are assembled, place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 180 C.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes, until figs are bubbling slightly and the edges are golden brown.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 30 minutes.

Have a good food day.