Raspberry, Almond Cream and Cardamon Galette

July 31, 2023

Galette is a rustic form of a flat crusty cake and I really like it when the roughly, slightly unevenly folded edges give this cake a homemade charm.  I enjoy pairing this still slightly warm galette, and many other cakes or tarts, with a dollop of velvety crème fraîche.  You could always use soured cream or a yogurt (which is divine) or vanilla ice cream instead.

For the pastry:

  • 180 g of plain flour, sifted
  • 150 g of cold cubed butter
  • 1 1/2  teaspoons of caster sugar
  • 1/4  teaspoon of salt
  • a few drops of iced water if needed

Pulse all the dry ingredients in a food processor, then add the cold butter and pulse briefly, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Next add a little bit of cold water, just enough to form a dough by pulsing gently to mix, or working it very quickly in your hands.

Form it into a disk, wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge to rest for 30-40 minutes.

For the frangipane (almond cream):

  • 50 g of unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 50 g of icing sugar
  • 50 g of ground almonds
  • 1 scant teaspoon of cognac or brandy
  • 1 medium egg
  • 8 cardamons pods, seeds removed and chopped

In a large bowl beat the butter with the icing sugar. Add the ground almonds, the cardamon seeds and stir thoroughly.

Now add the egg along with the Cognac and stir everything into a smooth paste.

Cover and leave in the fridge until ready to assemble.

For the raspberries:

  • 200-220 g of raspberries
  • 10 g of brown sugar
  • juice from 1/4 of a lemon

Place the raspberries in a bowl, sprinkle with sugar and pour the lemon juice all over the raspberries. Toss gently and leave to rest for about 10 minutes.

To finish and serve:

  • seeds from 7 cardamon pods, chopped
  • 1 egg yolk beaten with a few drops of milk to brush the pastry
  • a little bit of brown sugar
  • crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream to serve with

Preheat the oven to 190 C (fan assisted oven).

On a floured surface roll the pastry into a rough circle (roughly 35 cm in diameter, 5 mm thick), transfer on a baking sheet and then onto a baking tray.

You can roll the pastry out immediately on the baking parchment or in between two baking parchment sheets,  which will make this process a bit easier as the pastry can turn very delicate to handle, especially in a warm kitchen.

Take your almond cream out the fridge and spread it evenly over the centre of the pastry, leaving a good 5-7 cm margin round the edge.

Now snuggly arrange the raspberries on top of the frangipane base and scatter them with the remaining chopped cardamon seeds.

Next very gently fold the edges of the galette pastry (you can help yourself doing so by lifting the baking parchment around the edges of the galette) so they overlap the fruit. Pinch the pastry where needed or seal any broken parts with small pieces of the left over dough. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle over the demerara sugar.

Transfer the galette into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the pastry turns deliciously golden in colour.

Take the galette out the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray for about 30 minutes.

Serve still slightly warm with a dollop of crème fraîche or a generous scoop of a an ice cream.