I won't be very original with this first post of 2018 because I'm going to start by wishing you an excellent year, full of beautiful projects and success. I also wish a lot of inspiration to the students studying for their CAP exams. The deadline is approaching and it's often at this time that we think about giving up. Don't do it, keep working, you are more than capable! And to celebrate this Epiphany properly, I propose this year Philippe Conticini's frangipane galette.
For my part, 2018 will be devoted to developing my freelance activity and finding a certain balance with this blog. Not always easy to develop a new routine that works when you're the only one in charge (even though it's cool to be the boss!).
I will also offer you more CAP basic recipes, the reference sheets are still missing here. On my side, it will also allow me to review the basics. I notice that I no longer practice as much as I should and I feel like I'm getting worse, so I need to fix that.
Epiphany requires it, I submitted to the tradition of the galette. "Submitted" because actually I don't like it at all (especially the frangipane)! But since I had already made a recipe with apples and a chocolate candied oranges, this year I couldn't avoid the frangipane!
And since I didn't want to mess it up, I chose M. Conticini's version. It was the first time I tested one of his recipes. I appreciate so much his critical spirit (but always kind) and his way of always knowing how to correct a recipe to make it exceptional, that I was eager to test one of his recipes.
The secret to puff pastry, this won't surprise you, is resting time. To tell you the truth, I made mine over 3 days: the butter and dough on the first day, the turns on the second day, and the assembly of the galette on the 3rd day.
Since this is a rather long recipe, I made a special article on the puff pastry (you can also find all the details in my ebook: 11 CAP tips to succeed with ALL your pastries). For the pastry cream, it's in the recipe of Christophe Felder's flan that you'll find the recipe details.
For the almond cream and the assembly of the galette, there are a few small things to know for optimal results. First, forget the whisk to beat the almond cream. It incorporates air and makes the cream puff up during cooking, which deforms the puff pastry that really doesn't need that!
Another important tip: don't put too much cream on the puff pastry disc, you need to leave a good centimeter (or even 2) around the cream to be able to properly seal the 2 dough discs.
The chef also recommends when assembling the frangipane galette to give a quarter turn to the top disc. This way the two puff pastry discs will be in 2 different directions, which limits the risk of shrinkage. And chef's tip: flip the galette over because the underside will be a bit more regular than the top!
Finally for the crimping and assembly, seal the two dough discs well using a brush dipped in water and use a proper office knife but on the non-cutting side to avoid tearing the dough (and don't forget the holes so air can escape during cooking!).
For the egg wash, the chef recommends adding 10% cream to the beaten egg to give shine (I skipped this step, I ran out of cream). Be careful not to put too much egg wash, it should barely be visible on the galette (but you can brush it twice with an hour interval). Finally, last piece of advice, definitely don't put egg wash on the edge of the galette (the perimeter) at the risk of preventing the puff pastry from developing.
There you have it, with all these tricks, you should have a competition-level frangipane galette! The quantities given are for 2 galettes, don't hesitate to adjust according to your needs!
