by 
Favourite Apples
We always have a basket full of apples at home, ready to be turned into an apple compote which we eat religiously at breakfast each morning. It used to be my job to make the week’s apple compote, which I would vary every few weeks by adding some over-ripened fruit from the fruit bowl.
Oddly enough, when our children were born, my husband took over the role of making the weekly compote, something which he continues to do until this day, except that the “weekly” compote is often consumed in less than a week; the children love it so much that it also frequently makes an appearance at morning tea or afternoon tea.
Given the quantity of compote which we consume at home, my husband likes to buy the big bags of discounted apples at the supermarket. Sometimes they are nice varieties like Braeburn or Pink Lady, sometimes they are varieties I have never heard of.
So you can imagine his surprise when I came home one day with a huge bag of the most expensive apples from the high-end department store on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich.
Red Love Apples
By chance, I came across these amazingly red apples in the gourmet food hall of a local department store and, like a red lipstick tempting me from the Tom Ford counter, I couldn’t resist these beauties.
They are called Red Love apples and they are a variety which have been cultivated in Switzerland with a small local production. The flesh is a vivid mix of red and magenta, so striking that my children reacted with suspicion when I offered them a bite.
They do indeed look like the apples which would tempt Snow White, and the vibrant colour is superbly retained upon cooking or baking. As for taste, I find them to be sharp and sour like a good Granny Smith, so they are delicious for both eating and cooking.
Apple Galette
The first recipe which came to my mind for using these apples was a classic Apple Galette.
An Apple Galette is a French free-form apple pie, where the apples are encased in a rustic-style pastry filled with a frangipane (an almond paste) in the centre.
An Apple Galette is a quicker and easier way to make an apple pie, and once you have tried this recipe, you will find yourself making many versions of this galette, whether using apples or other fruits.
Apple Galette Recipe
As hazelnuts are also currently in season (we are lucky to have a hazelnut tree in our garden and my son’s current favourite past-time is cracking hazelnuts, walnuts, peanuts …), I’ve added freshly ground hazelnuts to the pastry and frangipane. You could also substitute with the more traditionally-used ground almonds and perhaps even ground walnuts.
But for an apple galette recipe, I think it is important to include some ground nuts in the pastry as it helps to absorb any moisture from the fruit during baking, thereby avoiding a soggy bottom.
If you can’t find red or pink apples where you live, know that this apple galette will look and taste just as lovely with regular apples 🙂
Apple Galette
Ingredients
For the Pastry
- 115 g (¾ cup) plain flour, (all-purpose flour)
- 65 g (½ cup) ground hazelnuts, or ground almonds (almond meal)
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar, (powdered sugar)
- 80 g (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cold and diced
- 3-4 tablespoons ice cold water
For the Hazelnut Frangipane
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar, or caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- ½ cup ground hazelnuts, or ground almonds (almond meal)
- 1 egg yolk
- 4 teaspoons double cream, (heavy cream)
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
For the Apple Filling
- 3-4 Red Love apples, depending on size, or use any apple variety of your choice
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons demerera sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
For the Pastry
- Mix together the plain flour, ground hazelnuts, salt, and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat paddle attachment.
- Add the butter and beat on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and resembles wet sand.
- Slowly add the water (you may not need all of it).
- Stop mixing once the mixture starts to come together into a ball.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it lightly to bring it together into a soft ball.
- Pat the dough into a flat disc and wrap with clingfilm.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
For the Hazelnut Frangipane
- Beat the butter and sugar together in a small bowl until it is light and creamy.
- Add the ground hazelnuts, egg yolk, cream, and salt.
- Mix everything together until you have a thick mixture.
To Assemble
- Roll out the pastry on a sheet of baking paper until you have a round shape about 12 inches (30cm) wide. The pastry should not be too thin (about 5mm thick).
- Spread the hazelnut frangipane over the centre of the pastry, leaving about a 1 inch (3cm) border.
- Place the pastry back into the fridge to keep cool while you prepare the apples.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F (without fan).
- Peel, halve and core the apples.
- To arrange the apples like in the photos, slice each apple half thickly (about 5 mm thick).
- Arrange the sliced apple halves like in the photo and push the slices gently into the frangipane. To make the apples fit nicely, you may need to remove a slice or two. Otherwise, for a more rustic and traditional-looking galette, simply pile the apple slices in the middle of the pastry, leaving a 1 inch (3cm) border.
- Fold the border over the apples and crimp the pastry to seal in the edges.
- Brush the pastry with egg wash.
- Generously sprinkle demerera sugar over the pastry and apples.
- Bake for 40-60 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly golden and the apples have softened.
- This apple galette is delicious served warm or at room temperature.
Kitchen Notes
- APPLE VARIETIES
* Red Love apples are currently only available in Switzerland, and they can be purchased at selected supermarkets.
* Similar apple varieties include Pink Pearl and Hidden Rose.
* This recipe also works with “regular” apple varieties such as Gala, Granny Smith and Braeburn. - VARIATIONS
You can substitute the ground hazelnuts for ground almonds, or even ground walnuts. - OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
I’m intrigued by the idea of appel compote for breakfast. What else do you eat with it?
The children eat a small bowl of compote as it is, and my husband likes to spread it on his toast or bread as if it were jam. In fact, we switched from eating jam to compote at breakfast because compote has little or no sugar added.
I like to add compote to some natural yoghurt, but I often eat it just as it is. I suppose the compote is just a fruit component at breakfast or snack time. Apple is the main fruit that we use, but we will add other seasonal fruits sometimes, depending on what we have. It’s a very versatile thing to have in the fridge – I could write a whole post about using compote in various desserts 😉
In Belgium, apple compote is often eaten as part of dinner, especially by kids (though a lot of adults love it too!) and used for pastries like apple turnovers. I often put apple in my morning porridge. Making a batch of compote to last the week is such a good idea, as is having it just by itself to add some more fruit to breakfast. Please go ahead and write a post about using compote in desserts! I’d love some more ideas (as well as some low sugar desserts as I tend to indulge in moelleux, cake or rice pudding for dessert… 😉 )
When the kids are being fussy, we sometimes serve apple compote at dinner, so I’m happy to hear that is completely normal in Belgium! 🙂 Apple turnovers are a favourite in our home (I’ve been meaning to post a recipe for a very long time), and so is a simple crumble using compote as the fruit base. I’ll have to think about some low sugar desserts … I think my husband would be interested too!
This is beautiful Thanh! I love those bright red apples. This galette looks very elegant to me, no need for a tin at all.
Thanks, Angela! I agree that these red apples take the galette to a whole other level. I hope to make this again soon when we have visitors. I need to make the most of these apples while they are still in season 🙂
What vibrant colors! I like to put the dough on top of some cornmeal or semolina for the extra crunch too!
Oh that’s a great idea! I have seen a recipe for galette which uses cornmeal or polenta in the pastry. I ought to try that next time. Thanks for popping by!
How absolutely gorgeous! I’ve never seen such red apples. It’s perfect for Valentines!
I used this recipe with Braeburn apples – worked perfectly. Thank you!
YUM YUM YUM!!! very very delicious! Looks tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
Gosh…they really are beautiful and special fruit – like the apple version of those red-fleshed peaches and nectarines I’ve only ever seen in photographs!
I recently found red-fleshed peaches which I never knew existed. The taste is exquisite! Might have to hunt down the red-fleshed nectarines now 😉
This is the most beautiful galette! I used normal Pink Lady apples and the galette was simply delicious.