Haute Hippie girl's night.
Read MoreGael Towey's Skillet Cake
It is not easy to introduce Gael Towey and Stephen Doyle - two people whose creative energies have infused the lives of so many both personally and professionally. For us it was a joy to spend the day in their New York City brownstone kitchen. We spoke of days gone by, recounted tales from their Christmas parties which always featured equal parts candles and food, heard of 20 year sewing projects and teenager antics, marveled over compost devotion, enjoyed the fact that even the most glorious sunny kitchen can still lack in storage space and - in the end - happily ate the fruits of our labor. Lovely.
Gael inherited this recipe from her grandmother. It was the only cake she made and when you try it you will understand why there is no reason to bake any other. The cake makes a fabulous dessert and a dreamy breakfast. Serve it with mascarpone and espresso regardless of the time of day. Experiment with different fruits. Apricots are lovely Pears and apples work well too but need to be cooked in butter first to soften.
Read MoreFarm to Table: Mixed It Up Fruit Galette
We co-opted the Sand Dollar Sable recipe and used it to make a sweet buttery cookie like crust. It works like a charm except when it comes to halving amounts. The math gets tricky. Freeze what you do not need and save it for another gorgeous day. Same holds true of the almond filling.
Cookie Crust
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Set aside. In another bowl cream butter. Add sugar and beat until light. Whisk eggs and add to sugar. Beat to combine. Stir in vanilla. Combine wet and dry ingredients. The dough will be quite stiff - use hands to knead. Wrap dough in plastic and chill 8 hours or overnight.
Almond Filling
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 1/2 cups ground almonds
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons brandy
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in ground almonds and flour. Mix well. Add eggs and mix to combine. Stir in salt and brandy. Filling can be made a day in advance and refrigerated until needed.
Fruit
Use what looks the most beautiful to you - apricots, peaches, berries, currants, plums etc.
To Assemble Galette
Heat oven to 425. Butter a standard muffin tin and line bottom with parchment paper. Divide dough in half. Wrap and freeze one half. Divide remaining half in half again and return to refrigerator. Roll remaining quarter dough on a well floured surface and cut into 4 rounds - large enough to fit in muffin tins with some excess crust coming up sides. Place lined muffin tin in refrigerator and remove reserved quarter dough. Repeat process with this dough and return whole lot to refrigerator to chill, about 20 minutes. Fill muffin tins with almond filling - enough to come just half way up. Freeze remaining filling - so to go with your frozen crust. Cut fruit into bite size pieces. Toss with a smidgen of sugar and place on top of almond filling. Gently fold in crust to partially enclose fruit. If crust is feeling fragile return to refrigerator to chill. Brush outside of crust with cold water and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and continue baking until fruit is juicy and almond filling hot and set, about another 15 minutes. Tent tarts with foil is the crust starts to go too brown. Remove from oven and let stand several minutes before removing from muffin tins - run knife around the edges of the tart to loosen if needed. Serve with whipped heavy cream as desired.