Almond Dreams

Why almond cream is fruit's best friend

It’s finally fruit season where I live. I live in an apparently temperate climate but the amount of time we have temperate weather is short. Winters rival the North Pole and in summer we could grow papayas if only the heat would last. The beautiful weather passes like a dream.

The first fruit of the season is usually rhubarb. And while I love rhubarb pie I don’t always like making pies; I can make good pastry but I lack a bit in the artistry area. I watch with envy the gorgeous lattice crusts and creative crimping videos on YouTube (the stuff is like porn for cooks), while my pies look like they were made by someone wearing a blindfold.

So galettes are a go-to when it comes to summer fruit desserts. They are quicker than a pie and rustic in the sense of unfussy and forgiving. No wrestling pastry into a plate, no dreaded crimping, and if it looks a little rough or the filling leaks a bit - well, it’s supposed to look like that.

What you lose in presentation should be compensated in flavour though, don’t you think? And thankfully there’s a simple trick that can make virtually any baked fruit thing even more delicious: almond cream.

Almond cream is one of those basic French pastry recipes that gets used in countless iconic desserts - Galette des Rois, Tarte Bourdaloue, and Jésuite to name only a few. It’s sometimes confused with frangipane, and many recipes and websites use the terms interchangeably. Frangipane, technically, is almond cream combined with pastry cream and if you want to make that then more power to you (and hey, you know how!), but almond cream on its own is pretty darn close and it’s ease and speed is more in keeping with the spirit of a galette.

You probably have almost everything you need and a quick trip to your local bulk bin store will get you the key ingredient - almond flour. Almond flour is what gives almond cream its texture and flavour. Of course, you can use any kind of nut flour you’d like (hazelnut and pistachio come to mind) but if you’re in a pinch you can grind up whatever nut you’d like in a food processor until it’s a fine crumb. Go too far and you’ll make yourself nut butter, so opt for slightly coarser grind if you’re making your own.

Some tips on buying nut flour: You CAN buy it in most grocery stores, but you’ll likely get a better deal if you go to your local bulk bin store. Just make sure you’re store has decent product turnover - old nuts get rancid, and ground nuts get rancid even faster because of increased surface area exposed to air. Give it a sniff to be sure, buy in modest quantities, and store leftovers in the freezer unless you plan to use them in a week or two. Whether you use the kind with the skin on the nut (left) or the kind with the skin off (right) is up to you. They cost the same at my local bulk bin store so today I’m using the skinless type.

So if you’ve got yourself some pastry (hey, you know how to make that!) and about 3/4 of a pound of nice fruit, why not whip up some almond cream and make yourself a galette? I’m using some pastry made from my grandmother’s recipe (the one on the back of the box of Tenderflake lard!) and it’s absolutely fair game to use store-bought frozen pastry.

This is supposed to be fast and easy, amiright?

The Gear:

• Two bowls

• Wooden spoon or electric beaters

• Spatula

• Measuring spoons

• Measuring cups or scale

• A rolling pin, baking tray with parchment, and a pastry brush (for the galette)

The Ingredients for Almond Cream:

• 2 large eggs

• 3/4 cup (66 grams) almond flour

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) softened butter

• 1/2 cup (107 grams) white sugar

• 2 tablespoons (22 grams) all-purpose flour

• Vanilla extract

• Almond extract

The Ingredients for Galette:

• 3/4 pound (340 grams) fruit of your choice

• 1/3 cup (66 grams) white sugar

• Citrus zest (optional)

• Pie pastry (single) at room temperature

• All-purpose flour (for rolling pastry)

• Almond cream

• Melted butter

• Coarse sugar (optional)

The Technique:

• Toss all your ingredients for the almond cream in a bowl. A teaspoon or so each of vanilla and almond extract is about right, but measure with your heart.

  

• Stir or blend together until mixture fully combined and sugar isn’t gritty. Traditionally we would cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs one at a time, etc. You can do that if you want, but this is faster and it doesn’t make much difference in this case.

  

• Almond cream is complete! It has raw eggs and raw flour but I can’t say I didn’t lick the beaters.

  

• Preheat your oven to 400F.

• Toss your fruit together with the 1/3 cup of white sugar. Add a little citrus zest if you have some. I chopped my rhubarb into 2 inch lengths and added the zest of one orange - it’s nice.

  

• Roll out your pastry dough to about a 11-13 inch diameter. I’m a little on the short end here, but no worries - this isn’t an exact thing.

  

• Transfer pastry to parchment-lined baking sheet. Fold it gently in quarters or roll around your rolling pin. Or heave it over and patch up the cracks afterwards.

• Spread almond cream (about 3/4 of your batch) on the centre of your pastry, leaving a couple of inches around the edges.

  

• Add your fruit on top of the almond cream.

  

• Fold up the pastry around the edges. Remember - this is rustic, so don’t stress about it.

  

• Brush pastry with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.

• Bake at 400F on the middle rack for about 35-40 minutes, or until your pastry edges are golden. If it leaks or boils over the pastry a little, no big deal. Trim off anything that’s a little burnt and you’re in fine shape.

  

• Let galette cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream, ice cream, or straight up.

And the leftover almond cream? It will keep in the fridge for a few days or freeze just fine. You could sandwich it between two pieces of bread, egg wash the whole thing and make some seriously awesome French toast. Make bostock (seriously, do this!) or make yourself a personal-sized galette with scrap pastry. I suspect you won’t have a hard time using it up.

Not only are galettes easy, they really let the fruit do the talking. They aren’t about your skill in the kitchen or your crust-crimping talent (or lack thereof). Almond cream can play nice with almost any fruit - rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries, and all the stone fruits - without overwhelming them. Summer is fleeting and sweet seasonal fruit is a rare treat, so why not let it shine with dreamy almond cream?