When it comes to baking for the holidays, we often find ourselves with more than enough cookies and Christmas cakes than we can finish. This year, we’re trying something different in the form of a delicious Chocolate Pear Galette. A wonderful dessert that will easily become a family favorite, this galette is like a simplified pie with half the effort but twice the flavor. Because they’re so easy and versatile, we’ve made a quite few galettes since this blog’s conception–an Apple Galette for autumn, a Plum Galette for the summertime and a Peach, Apricot and Blueberry Galette to celebrate stone fruit season. Once you master the dough for a galette, you can add virtually any fruit combinations you’d like for an easy, scrumptious treat. In commemoration of Christmas coming up this week, we thought warm, comforting baked pears and a decadent chocolate crust couldn’t be a more winning combination of flavors.
A delicious and easily recognizable variety, D’Anjou Pears are prized for their sweet, brisk flavor and rich, buttery and slightly gritty texture.It’s no wonder this delicious, medium-sized pear was our first pick for this particular recipe. After all, they’re perfect pears for baking into tarts, poaching into sauces or even eating fresh out of pears. Besides D’Anjou Pears, we also offer other wonderful varieties such as Bosc Pears, Forelle Pears, Yali Pears and more. Please contact us at 800-588-0151 or email hotline@melissas.com if you’d like to purchase any of these fruits.
Chocolate Pear Galette
Yields: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
Filling
- 4 D’Anjou Pears, havled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar tablespoons of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinammon
Crust
- 1 egg
- 1 and 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of rolled oats
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
- 5 tablespoons of iced water
- 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
- Coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
1. In a food processor, place the flour, oats, sugar, cocoa powder and salt inside and pulse until roughly mixed together.
2. Add the cubes of butter and pulse 8 times until the mixture is around the size of small peas.
3. Slowly add in the water, one tablespoon and a pulse at a time. The dough should still look and feel crumbly.
4. On a lightly floured surface, work the dough gently into a flat disk. Wrap it with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
5. To make the filling, add the sliced pears to a large bowl and combine with the sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and vanilla extract. Set it aside.
6. Once the dough is finished chilling, remove it from the refrigerator. Lightly dust a surface with flour and roll the dough out into a 12-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick.
7. Place the rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and a large piece of parchment paper. Layer the pears in the center on the dough in an overlapping pattern. Leave about 2 inches of dough from the edge.
8. Fold over the edges of the dough and leave the center open.
9. Make an egg wash by whisking the egg with a bit of water. Lightly brush the dough with this egg wash.
10. Bake the galette at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. Once it’s finished baking, allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes.
11. Sprinkle the galette with coarse sugar for added sweetness and texture. (optional)
What are your favorite Christmas desserts? What do you plan to serve up during your Christmas gathering this week? Do you have a favorite variety of pear?