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+ servings
pear and blackberry galette with vanilla cream cheese, side angle shot.
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5 from 2 votes

Pear Galette

Ripe, sweet and juicy pears are baked onto a buttery dough with a vanilla scented cream cheese and joined by tart blackberries for a deliciously complex and rustic fall treat!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Californian
Servings: 8
Author: Daniela Gerson

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • ● 1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for surface
  • ● 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ● ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ● 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces
  • ● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ● 1 large egg beaten to blend

For the Vanilla Cream Cheese

  • ● 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
  • ● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ● 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ● 1 egg yolk save egg white for egg wash

For the Galette

  • ● 3 firm but ripe pears preferably Comice or Anjou
  • ● ½ cup blackberries
  • ● 1 egg white
  • ● 1 tablespoon butter melted (+1 teaspoon for buttering baking sheet)
  • ● 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • Pinch of flaky sea salt

Instructions

To Make the Dough

  • place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to mix. Scatter butter chunks into bowl, add gourmet vanilla extract paste and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the beaten egg down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Take the dough of out the food processor, roll into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

To Make the Vanilla Cream Cheese:

  • In the bowl of a food processor fitted with steel blade combine the room temperature cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, gourmet vanilla extract bean paste and a pinch of salt until it forms a smooth mixture. Save the egg white to brush
  • over the crust just before baking.

To Make Galette

  • Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
  • Cur the pears in half through the stem end. Thinly slice off the cores and any seeds.
  • Thinly slice the pear vertically, stopping about ½ inch from the stem so the pear slices stay attached at the stem end. Set aside.
  • Cut black berries into rounds. Set aside.
  • Lightly flour a clean work surface. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it into a 14-16-inch circle. The dough may seem a little stiff soften as you work it and it warms up. Keep your work surface dusted with flour as you roll the dough to keep it from sticking.
  • Butter a large baking sheet. Transfer the rolled dough onto the buttered baking sheet (you can either roll or fold the dough to transfer without ripping). Spread the vanilla cream cheese mixture over the center of the circle, leaving about
  • 2-inches of bare dough around the outside edge. Fan the pears in a decorative pattern on top of the vanilla cream cheese, cutting the pear halves in half vertically if necessary, to make them fit. Sprinkle blackberry rounds over pears. Fold the edges of the dough up and over the filling, forming loose pleats all around the edge and leaving the center open.
  • Whisk remaining egg white and using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the galette with this egg wash.
  • Melt remaining tablespoon of butter. Brush melted butter over pears and blackberries.
  • Sprinkle galette crust and fruit topping with tablespoon of brown sugar.
  • Bake the galette until the pears are tender when pierced with a knife and the crust is golden brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

  • Letting the dough rest is non-negotiable.
  • For tender rather than mushy pears, use varieties such as bosc, Seckel or slightly unripe anjus.
  • For best, creamiest results, remember to let your cream cheese come to room temperature before whipping.
  • Leftover galette will keep up to 3 days in the fridge and is great for breakfast!