Plum Galette with Almond Cream (Video)

Ripe Italian plums over a layer of almond cream, wrapped in a buttery crust folded over the edges. This Plum Galette looks like something out of a French bakery, and it needs no tart pan, no blind baking, and no perfectly crimped edge.

Italian plums are only around for a few weeks at the end of summer, and this is what I do with mine. If you like this kind of rustic fruit bake, try my cherry galette, the pear frangipane tart, or a classic tarte tatin.

The almond cream creates a nice pillow for plums to absorb plum juices. Combined with almond extract, juicy plums against the crispy, flaky crust- it’s perfection!! Use peaches, blackberries, apples, or even pears in place of plums for other flavors

Ingredients for Plum Galette with Almond Cream

Two things matter most here: how ripe the plums are, and how much almond flour goes into the cream. The recipe card at the bottom has the amounts.

• Italian prune plums: The small oval ones, sometimes sold as Italian prunes or sugar plums. Firmer plums hold their shape better than very soft ones. Regular plums, pluots, apricots and peaches all work.
• Granulated sugar: Plain white sugar, for the fruit and for the almond cream. On the fruit, it does double duty: sweetening the plums and drawing out their juices while they sit.
• Cornstarch: Thickens the juices the plums still hold, so the galette slices cleanly. Tapioca starch does the same job.
• Lemon juice: Brightens the fruit and helps the juices come out during the sugaring.

Two sticks will make enough dough for 2 galettes. Halve the recipe for just one.

• All-purpose flour: Regular all-purpose is all this crust needs. I fluff, scoop, and level my flour so it does not pack into the cup. I use my easy flaky pie crust recipe for this recipe.
• Unsalted butter: Cold from the fridge for the crust, and room temperature for the almond cream. Salted butter works if that is what you have, but make sure to omit any added salt anywhere else in the recipe.
• Kosher salt: Without it, the crust tastes flat. Reduce the amount of salt if using table salt.
• Ice water: Real ice water with cubes floating in the cup. It keeps the butter cold while the dough comes together. Cold butter means a flaky crust.
• Almond flour: Blanched and finely ground gives the smoothest cream. Almond meal works and bakes a little darker and coarser.
• Eggs: One goes into the almond cream, and one becomes the egg wash. I love deep orange-yolked eggs; they look and taste better in my opinion.
• Almond extract: Optional, but I always add it. It is what makes the almond layer taste like almond rather than sweet butter.
• Vanilla extract: Rounds out the almond cream and warms it up.
• Coarse sugar: Turbinado or demerara for the folded crust. Regular granulated sugar works; it just does not sparkle the same way.

How to make Plum Galette (step-by-step)

Let the plums and sugar sit for about an hour to draw out the juices. The pastry also needs about an hour in the fridge. So start the galette couple hours before you want to serve it.

1. Make the dough. Pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor, add the cold butter, and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter still showing. Pour in the ice water a little at a time with the motor running, and stop as soon as the dough holds together when you squeeze a handful. You can do all of this by hand with a pastry cutter and a fork. Pat it into a disk, wrap it, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Sugar the plums. Halve and pit the plums, leaving the halves whole. Toss them with the sugar and lemon juice, then leave at room temperature for 1 hour. This draws out juices and prevents the galette from getting soggy.
   
3. Heat the oven. Put a heavy baking sheet on the rack and preheat to 425°F about 45 minutes after you’ve mixed the plums with sugar.
4. Make the almond cream. Beat the butter and sugar, vanilla, and almond extract until smooth; add the egg, then the almond flour, and whip until fluffy.  The full method is in my almond cream recipe.
   
5. Roll the dough. Roll the chilled disk into a rough circle, either between two sheets of parchment or on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it onto parchment, then settle the dough and the parchment together into a 9 or 10-inch baking pan, letting both overhang the sides. The pan is only there to catch any juices that might escape, but it is a good reassurance. Refrigerate until needed.
6. Drain them over a bowl. Tip the plums into a colander set over a bowl and let the syrup run off, then pat the halves dry with a paper towel. Keep the syrup; it becomes the glaze at the end.
7. Toss with cornstarch. Coat the drained halves so the juice they still hold thickens in the oven instead of running out.
8. Spread the almond cream over the middle of the dough in an even layer and leave a wide border bare.
9. Arrange the plums. Stand the plum halves on their sides and set them into the cream in a spiral, starting at the outside edge and circling in. Fit in as many as you can, packed tight.
   
10. Fold and finish the edge. Fold the bare border up over the outer ring of fruit in overlapping pleats and pinch each fold closed. Brush the crust with the egg wash, sprinkle it with coarse sugar, scatter sugar over the plums.
    
11. Bake. Set the dish on the preheated sheet, bake 20 minutes at 425°F, then lower the oven to 375°F and bake 35 to 40 minutes more, until the crust is deep golden and the almond cream is set and golden between the plums.
12. Reduce the syrup. Simmer the drained juice in a small saucepan until it is thick and glossy.
13. Cool, then glaze. Cool the galette on a rack, brush the reduced plum syrup over the fruit, and dust it with powdered sugar before serving.

The whole galette, packed edge to edge with Italian plums over a layer of almond cream.

Ways to serve Plum Galette

It is good enough plain, but a few things suit it:

• Warm with vanilla ice cream – the cold against the jammy fruit is the classic.
• Cold with coffee – the second day is better than the first, and this is how I eat the leftovers.
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream – the same one I make for my cherry galette.
• An extra spoon of the plum syrup – if you reduced more than you needed for the glaze.

You can also fully bake the galette the night before, cool and refrigerate it until morning. In the morning, to freshen it up, preheat the oven to 350F then re-crisp or warm up the galette for about 15-20 minutes. It won’t be as crisp as it was the day of baking, but it’s still very good.

More fruit desserts to try

If this one worked out, these are the closest neighbors on my site:

• Cherry Galette – the same free-form crust with cherries and almond flakes.
• Pear Frangipane Tart – the pan version of the almond cream and fruit idea.
• Almond Flour Plum Tart – gluten-free, on a pat-in almond crust, with a lower sugar option.
• Tarte Tatin – upside-down caramelized apples in pastry.
• Almond Cream (Frangipane) – the filling on its own, with every use I have for it.
• Homemade Flaky Pie Crust – my all-purpose crust, if you would rather use it here.
• Plum Butter Pirog – a soft yeasted plum bake for when the fresh ones are gone.

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Plum Galette with Almond Cream

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Plum galette is a free-form tart with the edges folded over the fruit. Mine is Italian plums over almond cream in a buttery crust, no tart pan needed.

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: plum galette with almond cream

Calories: 495 kcal

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 225 g. Fluff, scoop, level.
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar 12 g
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter 113 g. cubed.
• 4-5 Tbsp ice water 60-75 ml

Almond Cream

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter 55 g. Room temperature.
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar 55 g
• 1/2 scant cup almond flour 55 g. Blanched, finely ground.
• 1 large egg Room temperature.
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Plums

• 2 lbs Italian prune plums 900 g. About 20 plums.
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar 130 g. For macerating.
• 1 tsp lemon juice 5 ml
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch 16 g
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar 25 g. For sprinkling over the plums.

To Finish

• 1 large egg Beaten with 1 tsp water, for the egg wash.
• 1 Tbsp coarse sugar 12 g. Turbinado or demerara.
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar 8 g. For dusting, optional.

Instructions

Planning ahead

1. The galette dough needs to be chilled for at least an hour, and the plums need an hour in the sugar to draw out the juices. The baked galette also needs about an hour to two of cooling to settle the juices. Plan accordingly.

Make the Dough

1. Cut in the butter.

   In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tbsp granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp fine sea salt. Add 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter and pulse it in a food processor, or cut it in with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces of butter still visible.

   Those visible butter pieces are what make the crust flaky

   , so there is no need to work them in all the way.

2. Add the water and roll

   Sprinkle in 4-5 Tbsp ice water one tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork, until the dough holds together when you squeeze a handful. Pat it into a disk, wrap it, and refrigerate 1 hour.

Macerate the Plums

1. Sugar the plums to draw out juices.

   Halve and pit 2 lbs Italian prune plums, leaving the halves whole. Toss with 1/2 scant cup almond flour and 1 tsp lemon juice, and let them sit at room temperature for 1 hour to draw out the juices and prevent the tart from getting soggy.

   Italian plums taste sweet raw and turn tart in the oven

   , which is why the sugar runs higher here than it looks like it should.

Almond Cream

1. Make the almond cream.

   Beat 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp almond extract on medium speed until combined, then on high for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Assemble and Bake

1. Heat the oven. Set a heavy baking sheet on the bottom rack and preheat to 425°F. The hot sheet sets the bottom crust before the plum juices have a chance to soak in.

2. Drain and coat the plums.

   Tip the plums into a colander set over a bowl and let them drain, then blot the halves dry with a paper towel and toss them with 2 Tbsp cornstarch.

   Set aside the drained juice. We will thicken it into a syrup later.

3. Roll out the dough.

   Roll the chilled dough into a rough 14-inch circle between two pieces of parchment or on a floured surface. If it's too firm at first, whack it with the rolling pin several times across the dough to soften it and make it easeir to roll.

   Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper that's larger than the dough by about 1-inch. Settle the dough and parchment together into a 9 or 10 inch baking pan, letting both overhang the sides.

4. Spread and fill.

   Spread the prepared almond cream over the center of the dough in an even layer, leaving a 3-inch border all around. Stand the plum halves on their sides and set them into the cream in a spiral, working from the outside edge in. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp granulated sugar over the plums.

5. Fold and finish the edge.

   Fold the border up over the outer ring of plums in 7 or 8 overlapping pleats, pinching each fold closed. Brush the crust with the egg wash (1 large egg), sprinkle it with 1 Tbsp coarse sugar.

Bake

1. Bake at 425F, then 375 °F

   Set the dish on the preheated sheet and bake at 425°F for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375°F and bake 35 to 40 minutes more, until the crust is deep and the juices boil in the center of the tart.

2. Reduce the juice for the glaze.

   Simmer the drained plum juice in a small saucepan until it is thick and syrupy, about 2 to 3 Tbsp worth. Set it aside to brush over the baked galette.

3. Cool, then glaze.

   Cool the galette on a rack for at least 1 1/2 hours. The juices set as it cools, so a fully cooled galette slices clean. Brush the reduced plum syrup over the fruit and dust with powdered sugar (1 Tbsp powdered sugar) just before serving.

4. Serve with some ice cream or sweetened whip cream if desired.

Recipe Notes

Plum choice: Italian prune plums, sometimes sold as Italian prunes or sugar plums, hold their shape best. Firm ones give off less juice than very soft ones. Regular black or red plums, pluots, apricots and peaches all work, though juicier fruit may need an extra teaspoon of cornstarch.

Do not skip the maceration: The hour of sugaring and draining pulls out most of the liquid before the galette ever goes in the oven, and the drained juice comes back as the glaze, so nothing is wasted. The plum is packed with a large amount of plums (2 lb) so this step is important.

Free-form option: Bake it right on a parchment-lined baking sheet instead of a dish. A dish simply catches any juice that escapes, but you don't have to use it if you would rather not.

Make ahead: The dough keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen. The almond cream keeps 3 days in the fridge; let it come to room temperature and re-whip before spreading.

Storage: Keep the galette loosely covered at room temperature for 2 days, or refrigerated up to 4 days. To bring the crust back, warm it 10 minutes at 350°F on a hot baking sheet.

Nutrition Facts

Plum Galette with Almond Cream

Amount Per Serving (1 slice)

Calories 495 Calories from Fat 225

% Daily Value*

Fat 25g38%

Saturated Fat 14g88%

Cholesterol 95mg32%

Sodium 85mg4%

Potassium 280mg8%

Carbohydrates 64g21%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 40g44%

Protein 7g14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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