One of my life’s missions is to ease home bakers’ fear of making pie dough. While homemade pastry is notoriously nerve-wracking, you really only need a bowl and your hands to make it well. The secret to a flaky galette crust lies in a few techniques: properly cutting butter into flour, folding the dough to build layers, and baking long and hot. When cold dough hits the oven, the butter will puff between each layer.
But even with a great crust recipe, sometimes galette filling is so juicy that it runs out onto the sheet pan, creating a soggy-bottomed mess. Look, I’m not here to judge. If that happens to you, know that it’s also happened to me. Such is the blessing and curse of summer produce. Don’t stop baking, and definitely don’t toss it in the compost. Behold your wonky galette as modern art, nothing a little ice cream or well-placed pile of herbs can’t fix.
Of course, as any Great British Bake-Off judge would tell you, the ultimate goal is a base that’s crisp all the way through, sturdy enough to lift straight off the plate with your hands. And that’s exactly what we’re accomplishing in this month’s recipe for Bake Club. This tiny tomato galette recipe encourages you to attack the problem from two main lines of defense, both pre-bake and while it’s in the oven.
De-sog your filling
Let’s start with the filling. Part of what makes a tomato so great is its juiciness, but in a pastry you need to rein that in, without drying out the fruit entirely. Before they go anywhere near the dough, I like to salt the sliced tomatoes and let them sit on a towel to release some of their liquid. Secondly, I add a layer between the fruit and dough to act as a barrier. In savory galettes it’s usually some kind of cheese—this recipe’s version is a Parmesan and mayo spread. For sweet galettes, it can be helpful to macerate extra-juicy fruit in sugar, leaving released juices in the bowl; or opt for a thinner layer of fruit. I also like to make a quick frangipane as my dough barrier. Simpler still: a mix of sugar and cornmeal or almond meal. Even pulverized cookies can work in a pinch.
Bake past golden brown
The second variable when it comes to preventing the dreaded sog is bake time. I firmly believe that every galette needs a long trip in the oven. While you may be tempted to call it a day when the crust is golden brown, I implore you to keep baking until it resembles toffee or dark caramel. Beyond visuals, here’s another good way to test my tomato galettes (and any hand pies, for that matter): When your timer goes off, gently nudge or twist the galettes, then lightly shake the sheet pan. If the galettes slide around, you should be good to go; if they stay put, give them another 5 minutes in the oven, then try again. Heed this advice and I promise a Paul Hollywood–level handshake is in your future. As always, once you make it, let us know how it went in the recipe comment section or in the club chat.
