Fran Gage is a wonderful pastry and bread maker as well as a cookbook author. She shares her special recipe for a marvelous fruit tart here. It is simple to make and quite delicious with its classic French apple and prune filling. Fran’s recipe for a sweet crust is wonderful and can be used for other fruit tarts.

　　

Ingredients

makes one 12-inch galette; serves 8 to 10

　　

Dough

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

　　1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

　　3 tablespoons sugar

　　9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

　　4 tablespoons cold water

　　

Filling

6 or 7 pitted prunes, coarsely chopped

　　1 pound flavorful baking apples, such as Gravenstein or Braeburn

　　2 tablespoons sugar

　　2 tablespoons Calvados, Armagnac, or Cognac

　　1 tablespoon sugar, for sprinkling

　　

Step 1

Prepare a hot fire (450°F) in a wood-fired oven or cooker.

　　

Step 2

To make the dough, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Stir with a whisk to blend. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, rub or cut the butter into the flour until some of the butter is in flakes and the rest is the size of peas.

　　

Step 3

Stir in the water 1 tablespoon at a time to moisten the dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball. It will still look a little rough with some streaks of butter. On a floured board, divide the dough into 2 pieces, flatten each piece into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. Freeze the extra disk of dough for up to 1 month.

　　

Step 4

To make the filling, cover the prunes with hot water and let soak for 15 minutes. While the prunes soak, peel and core the apples and cut them into 1/8-inch slices. Drain the prunes. Put them in a bowl with the apples and toss with the sugar and liquor.

　　

Step 5

On a floured board, roll 1 disk of the dough out into a 14-inch round. Transfer the disk to a cornmeal-dusted pizza peel. Mound the fruit in the middle, leaving a 2-inch border of exposed dough. Fold the dough over the fruit, pleating it to close as you go around. Sprinkle the folded-over dough with the 1 tablespoon of sugar.

　　

Step 6

Slide the galette from the peel directly onto the hearth of the wood-fired oven. Bake until the crust is brown and the apples yield to the tip of a knife, 25 to 30 minutes.

　　Reprinted with permission from Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire by Mary Karlin, copyright © 2009. Photography copyright © 2009 by Ed Anderson. Published by Ten Speed Press.