Filson Food: Apple Galette with Salted Bourbon Caramel

A simple riff on an American classic. This galette is both super simple and looks great on the table. The more rustic-looking, the better, so don’t spend a lot of time trying to make it look perfect. The most daunting part of this recipe is making sure not to burn yourself when you make the caramel sauce, and that you don’t drink the bourbon before the recipe calls for it.

Serve with vanilla bean ice cream and more bourbon.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar, white

½ tsp salt

½ cup butter, diced and very cold

1 egg

Caramel:

2 cup sugar, white

¾ cup water

1 cup whipping cream

1 oz bourbon

2 tsp salt

Filling

4 tbsp butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced ⅛” thick. Squeeze a lemon over the apples after slicing them

¼ cup brown sugar

1 stick cinnamon

1 egg

chef grabbing measuring cup full of flour from a wood cutting board alongside a red bowl of sugar, five eggs, a pound of butter and bag of flour — 1 of 11

chef pouring measured sugar into silver bowl with other ingredients for sauce — 2 of 11

tattooed chef cutting up cold butter on wood cutting board alongside 5 eggs and a small red bowl of sugar — 3 of 11

tattooed chef picking up cut up cold butter on wood cutting board alongside 5 eggs and a small red bowl of sugar — 4 of 11

chef dropping cold cubbed butter into the dough mixture in a silver bowl on a wood cutting board — 5 of 11

the chef mixing all the pastry ingredients together with their hands to form a solid mass — 6 of 11

the chef cracking an egg with one hand over the dry ingredients in a silver bowl on a wood cutting board — 7 of 11

chef mixing the eggs into the dry ingredients in a silver bowl on a wood cutting board — 8 of 11

chef mixing flour, egg and other ingredients in a silver bowl with their hands with the assortment of ingredient containers and used egg shells on the side of the bowl — 9 of 11

Dough:

Mix the dry dough ingredients in a bowl.
Using your fingers, cut the butter into the flour. Pinch the butter in the flour until all the butter is pea-sized or smaller. Make sure to keep some small pockets of butter in the dough—this is what makes for a flaky crust.
Mix the egg into the dough and work it until the dough comes together.
Transfer to a floured work surface and knead until there are very few pockets of flour left.
Form the dough into a disk, wrap with cling film, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

chef mixing apple dessert sauce in pan — 1 of 3

apple dessert sauce bubbling in pan — 2 of 3

apple dessert sauce cartelizing in silver sauce pan — 3 of 3

Caramel:

Put the sugar and water into a very clean, large pot and place over high heat.
Bring the sugar to a boil undisturbed and allow it to turn a light caramel color. Be ready with the whipping cream and a whisk.
When the sugar turns caramel, slowly stream in the whipping cream while whisking. The caramel will expand quickly and splatter slightly—keep back as far as possible when doing this.
Bring the caramel back to a simmer, remove from heat, and add the rest of the ingredients.

lightly dusted black counter with flour and formed pastry dough ready to be rolled out — 1 of 7

tattooed chef rolling out pastry dough with a grey rolling pin — 2 of 7

rolled out pastry dough and grey rolling pin on the right — 3 of 7

chef tighly assembling apples on pastry dough — 4 of 7

Chef putting applying sauce to apple on pastry dough — 5 of 7

chef tightly wrapping the edges of the pastry dough around the apples — 6 of 7

chef putting egg wash on edges of apple dessert freshly assembled in pastry dough on parchment paper — 7 of 7

Assembly:

Pull the dough from the fridge 1 hour before rolling.
Brown the butter in a small pot and add the vanilla extract.
Remove the dough from the cling film and transfer to a floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rough circle ⅛” thick. Lift, flour, and rotate the dough as you roll so it doesn’t stick to the counter.
Brush the middle half of the dough with a layer of brown butter.
Arrange the apples around the middle of the dough.
Tear off any excess dough, leaving a 1½” ring of dough around the apples.
Brush the top of the apples with the remainder of the brown butter and sprinkle the brown sugar over top.
Grate the cinnamon stick over the apples.
Fold the edges of the dough up over the apples to create the edge of the galette.
Transfer the galette to a baking sheet and bake in a 350°F oven with a low fan until the crust turns a golden brown—approximately 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven.