Food and Recipes Desserts Honeyed Plum Galette A galette is nothing more than a casually made pie with far less fussing than the variation assembled in a pie plate. Containing both butter and vegetable shortening, the dough is supple and easy to work with while having that crisp-tender texture coveted in most summer fruit pies after it's baked. Because of the shape of a galette, the edge of each piece has a double layer of crust that conceals a pocket of fruit and gooey fruit juices. The filling of this galette celebrates the natural syrupy sweetness of ripe plums by only sweetening the fruit with honey. The honey adds a depth of sweet richness while highlighting the characteristic juicy flavor of plums. Lemon juice is added to the plums to further brighten the flavor and cardamom is added as a spiced fragrant contrast to the subtlety of the honey and plums. Lastly, a thin layer of gingersnap crumbs are spread under the fruit in the pastry to soak up some of the juices of the fruit and to add a delightful hint of ginger to the honeyed plums. After the pastry has cooled, the liquid of the fruit sets into an irresistibly smooth and thickened fruit filling that doesn't leak out of the pastry when it's sliced. Recipes like this one are elegant and take advantage of the phenomenal taste of ripe plums, allowing you to do relatively little work to make something truly exceptional. By Micah A Leal Micah A Leal Micah Leal is a chef and recipe developer with 5 years of professional experience in restaurants and bakeries such as Husk Restaurant and Harken Cafe & Bakery in Charleston, South Carolina. He has also developed nearly 200 recipes for SouthernLiving.com and Southern Living Magazine. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on June 30, 2020 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Active Time: 40 mins Chill Time: 1 hrs Total Time: 2 hrs 25 mins Yield: 6 serves Ingredients Dough 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water Filling 1 1/2 pounds ripe plums 2 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon cardamom 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup gingersnap crumbs (or graham cracker crumbs) 1 1/2 tablespoons raw sugar Directions Make Dough: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Add butter and shortening and pulse until butter is broken down into the size of small pebbles. Add 4 tablespoons ice water and pulse about 10 times or until dough begins to clump. If dough isn't clumping, add remaining tablespoon of water and pulse to combine. Press dough into one round disc about 2 inches thick, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut plums into 1/2-inch thick segments. Place plum pieces, honey, lemon juice, cornstarch, cardamom, and salt in a bowl and toss to coat. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a well floured surface, roll dough into a 14-inch wide circle. Transfer circle to lined baking sheet. Leaving a 1 1/2-inch margin around the perimeter of the circle, evenly spread the gingersnap crumbs inside the circle of dough. Place plum pieces on top of the circle of crumbs and pour any accumulated juices on top of the plums. Lifting one side of the circle, fold the dough up so it just covers a small portion of the circle of fruit. A few inches around from that fold, grab the dough again and lift it up to fold it partially over the fruit, creating a pleat in the dough and beginning to encase the fruit in dough. Repeat around the circle until it is fully encased. Place in freezer for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush dough of galette with milk or water and sprinkle raw sugar on the surface of the exposed dough. Transfer galette to oven, rotating halfway through baking, until the fruit is cooked through and the bottom of the galette is well browned, about 25 minutes. Allow galette to cool to room temperature before slicing and serving. Micah A. Leal Print